Seeing you smile
by Jinxing The World
Summary: Daisy agrees with Teru when she wants to be more grown up, and all he wants is to keep her safe. When Teru is hurt, it's up to Kurosaki to mend her body... and heart.
1. Beautiful Girl

Teru smiled as she pulled weeds from the school's garden, the warm sun on her back. The daisies growing in this bed were beautiful. Looking at her favorite flower made her stop and think about her favorite person, Daisy. She had just found out that Daisy, the one she loved like family ever since her brother had died, was actually Kurosaki her "master" and the school's janitor.

To most girls this would've been crushing, but not for her. Daisy may have been her only family, but Kurosaki was already becoming her everything. She shook the thoughts out of her head. She was just a silly teenage girl who had no shape and didn't wear make up, she could never date a man who dated women who were more beautiful than her.

She sighed and looked up at the hot sun, she wasn't even half done with her work yet, and after school when she went home she still had her half of an apartment to clean. She stood up with the bucket of weeds in hand and looked over at Kurosaki who was enjoying his lazy day sleeping under the shade of a large cherry tree. Suddenly an evil idea possessed her as she walked towards him. She took her bucket and dumped it on his chest.

He woke up with a start, "What on Earth!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Teru could hardly contain her laughter as he tried to wipe the dirt off his shirt. He finally gave up trying to clean himself off and decided it would be much easier to take his shirt off. Teru's giggling stopped as he removed the soiled t-shirt. Kurosaki noticing her lack of laughter turned around. "I know, I have hot abs. No need to drool slave."

Teru suddenly put on her best "game face" and started to punch him; even though it didn't hurt he laughed and said, "Whoa, easy killer!" Teru frowned and looked down, "Go bald, Kurosaki!" She yelled at him while still looking at the ground, and stormed off. Running his hands through his spiked dirty blonde hair he wondered out loud, "Was it something I said?"

Later that day there was a knock at her apartment door, she wondered who it could've been. Ren-chan was out at a conference so it couldn't have been her, and her friends were just as bogged down with homework as she was, so she doubted it was one of them either. She put the finishing few words on the last sentence of her homework and strode towards the door. She opened it and looked down, there was a small bag placed in front of the door. On the bag there was a gift tag with only one thing written on it, "DAISY" Teru lifted up the small package and brought it inside, she set it on the table where she was doing her homework and she opened it.

Inside was a note, it read;

"Dear Teru,

In your last message you mentioned wanting to try looking more feminine, I being a guy, had no idea what you were talking about. But I talked to a dear friend of both of ours, and she told me a verrrrrrry long speech about girls. For the record, I didn't understand half of what she said. But with the bit I did understand, I decided to get you a gift.

I don't know anything about cosmetics or summer or winter colors, and things but I think these will look nice on you. And yes, I do agree that you are old enough to start trying to look more adult, but please don't over do it. Don't try to grow up too fast or you'll find yourself looking back at all you've missed.

-DAISY"

She smiled and set down the note, sometimes it made her laugh that Kurosaki had such a sensitive side. She reached into the package; inside there was a small mirror, a tube of a very light pink lipstick and an eye shadow pallet with differing shades of pink, blue and brown. She smiled as she folded the tissue paper and tucked it back into the gift bag. It was silly to want to save the wrappings, but to her this was one of the best gifts she had ever gotten.


	2. A Hero's Gonna Save Me Just In Time

Sorry about the long time I didn't update this, I was seriously toying with the idea of dropping it, then I came up with an idea, I don't know if you guys will like this plot twist, because it's very unexpected, not even I really knew where it was going at first, but this is a pretty good chapter I think. Oh and a warning for young impressionable readers, this chapter involves an "almost rape" scene... Saying that is sort of a spoiler for the chapter, but I want to make sure you guys know that before you start reading it and get blown back six feet, kay. I don't own Dengeki Daisy or any of the characters, blah, blah,blah. Enjoy the chapter, I think it's length begins to make up for my lack of posting lately.

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Teru woke up the next morning after a strange dream, she had dreamed that she was the princess of a small kingdom and that her brother was the king, when the king died she had to get married in order to save the kingdom. Riko was the ex-queen in her dream, and Riko had called for every man in the Kingdom to come to the castle to meet the Princess and to try to win her heart.

When Teru couldn't find anyone in the men Riko got upset and a bit discouraged and decided to send the Knights after anyone who didn't come. Then all of a sudden Kurosaki was there, being dragged in by castle guards… the rest was all black until suddenly they were in a church, at the alter getting married. That's when she had woken up.

When she got up, Riko still hadn't gotten home. She was a little worried that she had not yet returned, but she knew that she could take care of herself. Teru decided to take advantage of her morning, she took a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast, then decided to try on her new cosmetics.

She put on the lipstick first, puckering up her lips like she had seen Riko and girls in her school do before. Daisy was right, it was a nice color on her. After a few minutes of wondering which color to choose, she also put on a very light shade of blue eye-shadow. She thought that it was barely noticeable, but that's what she wanted, subtle, not flamboyant.

She felt pretty, and thought about tying a bow in her hair, but after a few minutes, she decided she would look too young. She remembered when she was little, her big brother used to tie her hair up in ribbons and bows, she used to love it. She remembered all of her old hair ribbons fondly; she used to have one for every color in the rainbow, and then shades, tints, and mixes of those colors.

She was ready for school when she heard a knock at the door. She grabbed her things and made her way to the door. She opened it swiftly and looked up to see a very large man she had never seen before, she went to back away from him but he grabbed her shoulder and said, "Give me the program, I know you have it."

Teru was afraid; she slipped her shoulder from the man's hand, and tried to slam the door in his face. She was almost successful when his large hand met the door and shoved it open, shoving her backwards, making her land hard on the floor with a thud.

"Silly girl, I know you have it… and I know it will make me rich… so give it to me… I want the program, not your life."

She squirmed away into a corner, "I don't know what you're talking about, I don't have any program!"

The man laughed, and replied, " Sure you don't, but I'm sure a little pain will jog your memory." He stomped over to when she was curled up into the corner and unleashed kick after kick after kick to her, sometimes hitting her head, other times her legs, arms, or chest.

She began to scream out in pain, but he put his face close to hers and grinned at her with nasty yellow teeth, "I don't think so." He said maliciously while covering her mouth with his hand, almost suffocating her.

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a roll of duct-tape, he taped a gag over her mouth, and then taped her wrists and ankles together so she couldn't struggle; he then picked her up and put her in a chair.  
She whimpered in pain through the tape and tears began to roll down her face. He slapped her hard, " Now, WHERE IS IT?"

She shook her head no, even if she knew where her brother's program was, she would never give it to him.

"Not enough pain yet?" He said putting his face close to hers, "Well then, there's other ways to get information from a woman…" He smiled wolfishly at her with those horrible yellow teeth and picked her up out of the chair. He carried her into her bedroom and set her down on the bed.

Teru was a smart girl, she knew what was happening, she cried harder, her screams and shouts rendered to mere whispers by the tape covering her mouth. Everything hurt, and she was afraid, no one could save her, not even daisy, her cell phone was in her bag, in the living room, calling him wouldn't do her any good anyway, Kurosaki couldn't get to her in time, he was probably already at work. Riko wouldn't be home anytime soon either, she was either going to be gone for a few days, or was at work already like Kurosaki.

The man began to unbutton his shirt rapidly, and then he threw it off. He turned his attention back to Teru and sat down next to her on the bed, " I'd bet you're a virgin, aren't you?"

Teru struggled against her bonds and tried to get away, but two strong hard, unforgiving hands pressed down on her. He smiled at her cruelly and began to take off her shirt, he got it loose, and pulled to up to where her wrists were taped together, instead of leaving it there, he tore her shirt and threw it to the floor.

Tears stung her eyes and blocked her vision as the man looked at her lace bra greedily, he didn't touch it, but instead he started to slide off her skirt. She tried to move away, to struggle, to scream, but she couldn't, she could only let hot tears stream down her face. She wished for emancipation from this man, his hot breath, his yellow teeth, his sadistic drives. She couldn't think, all she did was try to scream the same word over and over, "Daisy".

Suddenly the door swung open, she couldn't see who it was or what was happening through her tears, but she felt the man get up off the bed, away from her, and then heard a fight, she didn't know who had won, all she knew was that she heard silence, then footsteps nearing her bed. She was afraid, she thrashed again against her bonds, but they would not break, she saw the glint of an object come at her, she was pretty sure it was a knife.

She twisted her head up and to the side, whimpering, she anticipated the pain, but felt nothing. She heard the sound of something cutting and tried to crane her neck to see what it was, she couldn't arch her pained body to see what was happening or who it was, but then she felt it, someone was cutting through the tape binding her ankles together.

She closed her eyes and tried to stop crying, but couldn't, she felt the same cutting at the tape at her wrists, then she felt slight pain as the person pulled the tape from her mouth. Only then did she have the courage to open her eyes, it was Kurosaki.

He looked down on her, she had been through so much, and he wished he had gotten there sooner. He saw red marks and other marks that were already bruising on her naked stomach. He didn't know what to do next… he had his plan thought out from the moment her heard her scream, break in, kick the shit out of whoever was hurting her, make sure she was okay, and then leave.

Now he wasn't sure what to do, he couldn't leave her like this, shirtless, pulled down skirt, eyes stung almost shut with tears, covered with bruises, fearful, he couldn't will himself to leave her alone like this, but still, he had no idea what to do. He reached his hand down to touch her face, but she turned her head away and started to cry harder. He pushed himself up off her bed and stepped away from her, but that only made her cry harder still. He did the only thing he could think of doing, he laid down next to her, close enough so that she knew he was there, but far enough away so she wouldn't be scared. Her crying lessened, and he was happy. He would do anything to make her happy, even if he had to lay here for the rest of his life.

She looked over at him, he smiled lightly at her, and she shuddered. His face turned blank, that scared her even more. Cautiously, her hand touched his shoulder. He looked at her with a calm serene expression and she felt a little safer… there were still tears rolling out of her eyes, but they were uncontrollable, part of her wondered if she'd ever be able to stop crying. Her hand moved down to touch his chest through the white cotton of his t-shirt. She felt the warm, tight muscles of his chest, and was suddenly conscious of how cold she was.

She rolled over and put her arms around him, and as he pulled her close, she cried, long and hard, about everything. She cried about the pain, her fear, what just happened, what could of happened… she cried and cried and cried in his arms, feeling warm and safe in his embrace.


	3. Scared and Lonely

Reading the newest Dengeki Daisy gave me the strength to write this... I'm feeling like no one reads my fan-fics anymore, so, no reviews, no more chapters...Okay?  
Well here it as, as usual, I own NOTHING...

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He held her tightly to him as she cried into his chest, he had one hand on the back of her head, and the other in the center of her naked back. He shushed her tenderly and ran his hand over her hair gently. He whispered reassurances to her, "You'll be okay", "I'm here now.", "It's okay to cry.", and, "I won't let you get hurt again, you're safe now."

She sniffled lightly and pulled away from him, she looked down at her skin, much of which was bruised, she felt so naked, so unclean, she felt like she could die, but his presence made her feel safer… she just wanted to get out of that room.

Sensing her pain he got up and walked over to her closet, he pulled out a clean t-shirt and handed it to her gently. After she pulled it on, she pulled her skirt back up, and he grabbed her hand to help her stand up. He told her to close her eyes as they walked from her room to the front door, he had broken it down to get into her apartment. He didn't want her to see the mess the struggle had made, or that her own blood stained some of the carpet in that room.

Once they were out in the hall way he released her hand and whispered, "It's okay, and you can open your eyes now."

Her lids lifted lightly, she felt frail and fragile, but she knew she was safe with him. She looked up at him and started to cry again. She thought no one would have been able to find her, but there he was, her love, her savior, her Daisy. "Thank you… thank you for saving me… I don't want to think about what would've happened to me if you didn't come… I think he would have… I was praying… hoping… Thank you…"

He wrapped his arms around her as she cried, "Teru… don't thank me, and don't think about what could've happened… I'm here… Everything is going to be alright." He loosened his embrace as her crying softened. " Is there anything I can do for you? I'll do anything to help."

She waited for a few moments, then in a small voice, she said, " Grab my bag from my apartment? … Please?"

"Sure Teru, but first if you don't mind me asking… why do you need it?"

" I'm late for school…"

He looked at her and chuckled nervously, "You're in pain, you're feeling weak, you're afraid, and quite possibly have a concussion… and all you want is to go to school?"

She suddenly felt foolish, and she began to tear up. She balled her fists and looked at the ground, barely believing that any of this could really be happening. Her voice quivered as her eyes threatened to once again produce a stream of tears, " Go Bald Kurosaki…"

He didn't want her to cry again, so he quickly stepped inside and grabbed her bag. As he walked back out, he saw her slumped down on the floor with her back against the wall. Her arms were around her legs and her head was tucked in between her chest and her knees. She was quiet, but he knew she was crying out and screaming on the inside.

He softly stepped in her direction, careful not to scare her. " I have your bag Teru…"

She slowly moved her head and looked up at him. He kneeled down to her level and handed it to her. " I'm not very good at this sort of thing… but… I want to take care of you. I want you to feel safe again. I know if I were you, I'd want to be anywhere but here right now, so I'll take you anywhere you want to go… except to school… you don't need that right now… Maybe the hospital, it looks like you got pretty roughed up in there… I'm worried that you might have a concussion or internal bleeding…"

She shook her head no, " No… I don't want to go to the hospital… I feel fine…", she stood up and lost her balance as she finished, " See, I'm 100% Okay!"

He looked at her with a look that told her that her act was a little short of convincing. "Teru… Please just work with me here… I'm worried about you, and I just want to make sure you're alright. If you go to the hospital with me and get checked out, I promise, right after I'll take you where you want to go… I'll take you anywhere you want, whether it's next door of a million miles away… I swear I will. "

She felt sincerity radiate almost tangibly from his words, she was still nervous and scared, but she trusted him. "Okay…" She said so soft it was barely audible, "But only because you promised…"

He gave her a quick small smile, and touched her hand lightly. When he felt her small hand squeeze his, she began to walk to the parking lot with her.

When they reached the parking lot, the two of them climbed into his car. As she buckled her seat belt, he rummaged around in the back seat for something. After a few moments, he turned and handed her a large zip up hoodie. " Here", He said with a gentle smile , " In case you don't feel comfortable…"

She accepted graciously, and put it on as he started the car and pulled out. She felt warm and safe in it, just simply because it belonged to him. It was too big on her, and the sleeves were longer than her arms, she had a feeling that it was large even for Kurosaki. She snuggled herself into the seat and yawned, today was a relatively cold day, and the warmth of a sweatshirt made her feel a lot better. She discreetly smelled the fabric… his scent was thick on it, which made her relax farther. For the first time since the morning, she felt calm, and okay.

He looked over at her, she looked peaceful and at ease, he turned on the radio. He smiled at the song that began to play. _If you're lost you can look and you will find me… Time after time…_ He was glad that if even just for a moment, fate had shown kindly on him and Teru. He heard her soft voice quietly sing along to the song, and added his own.

She looked over at him, he didn't look scared or worried anymore, he was lost in the song that they were both singing. She liked the way he sang, his voice wasn't anything special, but he used it well, and she loved it.

When they pulled up to the hospital, Teru felt anxious again. She rubbed her thumb and forefinger back and forth over the bottom of her borrowed hoodie. She was suddenly conscious of the pain from her bruises, cuts, and other wounds. She began to shake, terrified of what was coming next.

He saw her shaking and caught her hand as they walked up to the receptionist. He ran his thumb over her knuckles as the receptionist handed them a clipboard, a pen, and a stack of medical forms. He guided her over to the chairs farthest away from other people. He had filled out so many of these forms for her recently that he didn't have to ask her a single question. As he wrote, he kept one hand on her to keep her from being too afraid. He had her sign the bottom and walked the forms back up to the receptionist.

After about a half hour, they were called in to a small examining room. Teru began shaking even more as the doctor walked into the room.

The doctor began by asking Teru what had happened, but she couldn't answer him. Instead she looked at the floor and once again began to cry.  
Kurosaki, reluctant to give her more of a reason to shed tears, beckoned the doctor out of the room. " Look, Doctor, she was moments away from being raped… I walked in and momentarily disabled her attacker and untied her… He had beaten on her pretty badly before I came along, and I'm worried that she could have internal bleeding or a concussion… please, try not to upset her any further. If you have any more questions, please just ask me…"

The doctor nodded back to him, " Just out of curiosity, what are you to this girl? Are you her cousin, or her brother, or her uncle?"

"I'm her protector…"

The doctor gave Kurosaki a look of confusion, but asked no further questions as he reentered the room to look Teru over.

After the doctor finished looking her over, he found, as Kurosaki predicted, that Teru had a minor concussion. After bandaging all of her cuts, and giving Teru a strict "No hard work or sports for the next week" conversation, Kurosaki and Teru found themselves back in his car.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Kurosaki said as he reached over and put a hand on her shoulder.

She didn't respond to him, and remained completely quiet as she reached into her bag and grabbed out her phone where she began to write a note to Daisy.

"Daisy,

I was hurt this morning… I would've been hurt even worse if Kurosaki hadn't shown up and saved me. I'm very scared right now. I don't know what to do next. I can't go back home… I won't feel safe there… Kurosaki offered to take me anywhere I wanted to go… would it be rude of me to ask him to go to his house? He makes me feel safe and safe is what I really need right now… Please Daisy, I need your advice right now more than ever…

-Teru"

She pressed the send button, and a few moments after, Kurosaki's phone rang. He quickly made an excuse that it was an "important call" he had to take and stepped back out of the car and into the hospital parking lot.

He sighed as he stepped away from the car, he had a feeling she was on to him with the "Daisy" façade, but he still couldn't be sure. "I guess I'll have to tell her sooner or later…" he mumbled while he responded to her text, "I was just hoping it would be later instead of sooner…" When the message sent, he pretended to be on the phone for a few minutes longer, and then crammed the phone in his pocket.

When he got back in the car, Teru was already reading the message from "Daisy". He looked over at her and sighed, she looked like she was in less pain now, probably from the pain killers they had given her, but her face was still slightly twisted into a mask of fear.

With her eyes glued to her phone, she read:

"Dear Teru,

Who hurt you? Are you alright? I hope Kurosaki is taking good care of you. I'd hate to see you in anymore pain. If you feel safe with him, I see no reason why it would be rude to ask. He is your friend after all, isn't he? I'm sure he'd be more than happy to take you into his home. Also, he did promise you, and to me, he doesn't seem like the man to break a promise. But Teru, I need to warn you that this is your own decision, like we both agreed on before, you're growing up. So whatever you decide is your choice… but be warned… if something bad happens with him… I don't know if I'll be able to get to you in time to help… Not that I dislike him or think he will do something wrong… just as a precaution. If something goes wrong, call Riko. Okay? She'll help you even if I can't. Whatever you choose I know it will be the right decision because it came from your heart.

-Daisy"

He looked at her as she looked up from her text, " So… where will it be? I did promise you anywhere you wanted to go, I'd take you there."

"I think you already know…" She said softly as she pulled up the hood on her borrowed sweat shirt.

Smiling he said, "Oh, come on Teru, not school, anywhere but school!"

"Not school" She said trying to hide her blush through the fabric of the hoodie.

"Then where do you want to go Teru?"

"I want to go… I want to stay with you… at your apartment…"

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Hope you enjoyed it

Please Please Please Review


	4. We Are Broken

Kurosaki pulled his car into the parking lot of their apartment complex. As Daisy, this had seemed like a good idea, but now he wasn't so sure. She had slept at his place before, but that had been before his feelings for her had been fully matured, it was also before she had been beaten and almost raped. He found himself worried, not only for her feelings, but for his own sanity.

She sighed, she had somehow talked him into letting her stay at his place, but now she was scared she had made the wrong decision. She grabbed her bag and got out of the car, then proceeded to follow him up to his apartment. She watched him fumble with his keys until he got the correct one to open the door. She liked watching the way his hair moved along with him. The way it moved, it looked like the air stopped doing what it was doing just to tousle his hair. She smiled at him when he opened the door.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked trying his hardest to stay neutral with his tone, to hint nothing at the fact that he wanted her to say yes.

She wasn't sure what to say, on one hand, she loved him and wanted him to make her safe… but on the other, she wasn't sure if she was ready to be alone with a man again… especially since if something went wrong, no one could help her… not even her daisy. One look into his deep eyes gave her an answer. "Yes." She said with a meek smile. She knew what she was getting herself into, and she saw all she needed to in his eyes to know her choice was right.

He smiled back at her and hoped she made the right choice, for both of their sakes. He motioned her through the door and when they were both inside he closed it gently. Not really expecting visitors, his apartment was a mess, not in a dirty way, but in a disorganized way. There were books, coffee cups, and dirty clothes everywhere.

She laughed as she looked at his coffee table, she had never seen more cups squeezed on to such a tiny surface in her life. Sitting down on his couch she found more dirty laundry piled on the cushion next to her. She blushed crimson when she realized what was on top of the pile… a pair of black and white checkered boxers.

He looked at her and wondered why she was smiling and blushing, then he saw what she was looking at, a pile of his clothing, with a pair of boxers on top. "Shit" he muttered, now embarrassed himself he said, "Sorry… I haven't had the chance to do my laundry in a while…" He picked up the pile, "Actually… I haven't done any house work in a while…"

She laughed, "It's fine, I can tell you weren't really expecting visitors anyway." She suddenly felt like she didn't belong in his home. She wondered if she was being a bother. "Would you like me to leave?"

"No!" He shouted without meaning to be so loud, then he continued in a quieter voice, but in trying to undo the damage his shout made, he lost his cool and began to speak faster, "Well… I mean, you can if you want to, but I don't mind having you here, really! I mean, you aren't bothering me or anything. I actually like having you here. But you can leave if you want. I'm not going to keep you here, if you want to go, but if you don't want to go, please stay. I mean… I just…"

She walked closer to him and touched his hand, " You just what?"

He sighed, he had really dug the hole deeper for himself. He wasn't sure how to word it correctly, and he didn't want to scare her. Maybe saying it to her would be too much, he didn't want to scare her or come on too strong. No, he was going to say it, he was going to confess his love to her. He was going to tell her how much she meant to him and how much he cared about her. He was going to tell her that no matter what, he'd always be there for her, as her protector, as her friend, as her lover… "I just want to protect you." He looked away, angry with his own cowardice for not telling her how he really felt.

"Oh…" she said as she released his hand, " I see". She was angry for getting her own hopes up… she should have known that all she was to him was someone to protect and defend. Nothing more, and nothing less… He wasn't in love with her… or at least in the way that she wanted him to be.

"So…" he said to her, "What do you want to do?" A part of him hoped she'd say something involving him and his bed or the couch, but the other side of him chided himself, she was not ready for something like that… she was too young… too easily hurt… and most of all, she was hurting right now. He didn't want her to remember her first time as something scary or painful.

"I'm not sure… what do you want to do?" She actually knew what she wanted to do, and that was lay down with him, in his bed. Not for sex, but for the secure feeling his arms would give her. But she got a feeling, that's not something you should ask for.

He looked at the clock, it was 12:20. "You hungry?" He asked her hoping she'd say yes. If there was any way to win her over, it would be a warm bowl of homemade soup on a cold day like today.

"A little… but I'm not really in the mood to eat right now…" She muttered, feeling like a bother again.

"How about I make us dinner later?" He said hoping his smile would cheer her up. He hated to see her so down like this.

"That would be great." She said and faked a smile.

"Okay." He said as he took her hand, "Come on, I think you need some rest."

She followed behind him, now truly smiling as he opened his bedroom door. Amazingly, it was immaculate… at least compared to the rest of his home.

"You can lay down in here if you want…" He gestured towards his bed, " Or on the couch if you think you'll be more comfortable there…"

She smiled and pulled off her borrowed hoodie, "Here will be just fine thank you." She walked a few steps and laid down on his bed.

"Is there anything I can get you?" He asked as he walked towards the door.

"Two things.." She said blushing.

"Anything you want."

"One… my pajamas from my apartment… and two…"

"Yes?" He said smiling lightly.

"You…"


	5. She Will Be Loved

Hey people! Thank you so much for all the great reviews, I hope you enjoy this new update; I had fun writing it, but if it's slow or boring in a few places, please point it out to me… I started to ramble after a while… For those of you that haven't figured this out yet, I love to write using "…" . I am trying to get away from using it, but it's not working. As always thanks for reading Seeing You smile, and if you have any ideas feel free to put them in your review, PM them to me, or email them to me if you wish! Lots of luck and Love to you all, in all you do!  
Peace Out!  
-Jinx

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He wasn't sure how to respond, he just nodded and left the room, "Smooth move…" he muttered to himself as he went into her apartment. He knew a million different things he could have said… but unfortunately, he could have said those things to a million different women. That was his problem, after she said that, his mind went blank. Blank of what to say to her, no matter how sweet, or sexual, nothing he could have said would have worked… nothing would have been the right thing. He wasn't sure how to explain it, plenty of other women had wanted him before, but none like her. She had been the girl he had sworn to protect, but now, she was the woman he loved.

He sighed as he stepped into her bedroom and opened her dresser… he didn't see any pajamas… or at least what he classified as women's pajamas. There were no camisoles, night gowns, or sexy booty shorts, no, he only saw gym shorts of appropriate length and over-sized t-shirts. Grabbing a pair of black shorts and a much worn olive drab t-shirt, he hoped that this had been what she had meant by "pajamas". On his way out he made a mental note to call Riko and get someone to clean up and fix the door before Teru went home again… "She doesn't need to see this…" he murmured under his breath, "She should never have to see this…"

As he opened the door to his apartment, he was once again overcome with fear. The fear of doing something wrong… she had been so vague when she said only "you". He wasn't quite sure of what she wanted, he wasn't even sure she knew what she wanted. Did she want him to lay with her or just sit near her? Did she want him to talk with her or remain quiet? Did she want him for safety or sex? Did she need him… or did she need Daisy? He was unsure of what she wanted… and what she needed. He sighed and straightened himself; he'd just give her the pajamas and let her take the lead from there. He silently promised himself that no matter what she wanted to do, he wouldn't be upset about the outcome. No matter what was about to happen, she was still his to protect, and his to love.

Walking into the room was the easy part, finding a way to tell her about what he had grabbed was more difficult. "I… uh" he began, trying to keep his voice in check, "I didn't see any night gowns or anything… but I did find these…" He held out the clothes for her, " Is this… uh… what you wanted?"

She blushed; she had forgotten just how unattractive her pajamas were. "Yes those are alright…" she said while silently wishing she had something cute to wear as pajamas. She had always worn shirts and shorts, they were just comfortable and easy for her to wear, plus, she never in a million years thought she would be sleeping over at Kurosaki's house… or any other man's house for that matter. She sighed as she unfolded the clothes. He grabbed her favorite shirt, it had been her brothers. On some of the worst nights after he died, she would wear it and feel safe; to her it was like he was hugging her through the fabric. For a little while it had even smelled like him, she remembered crying when she washed the scent out of it. She immediately felt foolish and blushed more than she already was. "Thank You…" she whispered as she looked down.

"It was your brother's shirt, wasn't it?" He said with a half-smile half-frown expression.

"Yeah…" She said with a little bit of a chuckle, "How did you know?"

"He's the only man in your life that you would want to hold on to… so it would only make sense for you to keep something of his, like a shirt, or trinket." He said with a sigh.

"That makes sense I suppose." She said nodding her head slightly.

"Well, I'll leave you to change…" He said as he walked back towards the door, " Oh and Teru… when I said 'the only man in your life that you would want to hold on to' I meant other than me, of course."

The last thing he heard was the door shutting and the muffled sound of some phrase with a striking resemblance to: "Go bald Kurosaki!" He put his back to the door and slid down to the floor. He sighed in relief, it was good to hear her insult him again. He chuckled at the irony of it, being happy to hear someone insult you. But truthfully he was overjoyed, it meant things were getting better, things were getting back to normal, and that soon… she'd be okay. That's all he wanted at the moment, for her to be okay, and for her to smile.

She sighed as she pulled her clothes off; maybe he was watching her through the crack between the door and the wall. Probably not… and she really didn't care if he did, she was too tired at the moment to care about much. She looked around his room, it was pretty empty, there was his bed, a small dresser, a desk, and some shelves. There were papers and books stacked on the desk, but to her amusement, no porn or smut. She giggled, "I actually was wondering what that stuff was like…" For a moment she was tempted to tease him about it, but in reality, she was too tired to joke back and forth with him. Pulling her pajamas on she walked over and opened the door.

He felt the door give way behind him, before he had time to move, he landed completely on the floor. "Ouch!" he exclaimed as his head hit the floor. Standing up quickly, he rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm so sorry!" Teru shouted as she reached over to him. She touched his shoulder, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were sitting there! Are you okay?"

He chuckled, "Yes, I'm fine… don't worry about me."

"Okay… are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure… now… when you said before that the other thing you needed was me… how did you want me?" He steadied his voice as he spoke, he tried not to be demanding, but still, he was curious. He'd been wondering what she meant since she said it, it was driving him crazy.

She blushed, his voice was thick… she never thought a situation could turn on a dime like this. She wasn't sure what to say… the truth… or what he wanted to hear… On one hand, she could say what he wanted her to, she could say she wanted to have sex with him… but that would scare her… possibly scar her, and for what? A simple appeasement of lust? On the other hand, she could tell him what she really wanted… she could just ask him to watch over her and keep her safe as she slept. But she was unsure of how he would react. She sighed, "Kurosaki…"

"Yes Teru?" He smiled lightly at her, hopefully reassuring her that whatever she was going to say next would be alright.

"I…I want… you… and me… to… have… ummm…" She blushed, saying this didn't feel natural.

"Teru…" he interrupted her, "Don't lie to me… please… whatever you do, just don't lie to me… because I know if you finish that sentence you'll be dishonest. Don't lie to me… don't lie to yourself…"

"Oh" she said breathless… she didn't know he had known she was lying. She gained a little comfort in the fact that he wanted to hear the truth. "Well… I… I want to just… lay down, I'm tired and I need some sleep… but I don't feel safe alone… so could you… lay down with me?"

He smiled at her, he was glad she had told him the truth this time. "Of course I can… Teru… all you needed to do was ask…" He saw how embarrassed she was and laughed silently in his mind. "Never be afraid to ask me anything… I'll always answer… even if it seems stupid… ask me… I promise not to laugh too hard"

She smiled back at him, he was so annoying and infuriating sometimes, but the worst part about it was that no matter how bad he acted, he still seemed attractive and sweet to her. Behind every joke, there was a sweetness she couldn't help but love. Behind every odd look, there was an inner smile. Every time he called her "slave" she couldn't help but feel the warmth of friendship and love in it. There was nothing he said or did to her that didn't have feeling attached, and that was one of the small things about him, that made her love for him even stronger.

Not feeling like fighting back she nodded and laughed a little, "I'll try to remember that."

He smiled at her and touched her hand. He saw her smile broaden, and in a spur of the moment action, he picked her up off the ground. Holding her bridal style, he carried her through the door of his bedroom, and set her down on his bed.

She giggled like a little girl when he set her down; she hadn't felt this happy in a long time. She loved the way he was smiling at her; it made her feel like the only woman in the world. She knew that this bed had probably seen other ladies, but she tried to keep her cynical side in check, nothing was going to ruin this for her… not even herself.

He looked at her, just the smile on her face made everything he was doing worthwhile. He pulled the covers up over her, and tucked her in. Then as per her request, he laid down next to her, but on top of the sheets. She hadn't requested he do so, but after what had happened to her, it felt right to him. He turned on his side to face her, her eyes were twinkling like stars, and he couldn't help but notice the light blue eye shadow she was wearing. In part, he was proud of his color choice, but looking at her natural beauty, he was pretty sure, and color he could have chosen would have looked lovely on her. He brushed a piece of hair out from her eyes to behind her ear. She was gorgeous; there was no denying that fact. He put his hand on her arm and started running his thumb over her skin.

His touch reassured her that she was safe and that everything would be alright. As her eyes began to close, she started spacing out. The last thing she remembered before everything went black was the brush of lips across her forehead and a soft voice saying "I love you."

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The day I get 10 new reviews I post a new chapter! If I don't get 10 reviews I'll post the new chapter on the 30th... Sooner I get reviews, the sooner you get a new chapter... Okay? A bit bitchy of me, I know, but reviews are all that keeps me writing... Each time I get a review it makes my day, and I really thank all of you who review on my stories. Also it takes balls to give me constructive criticism, and for all of you that do that, I appreciate it! Someone has to keep me and my stories in check! Well, sorry if I rambled on a bit this time! _

-Jinx


	6. I Feel Fine

I didn't get 10 reviews... but I decided to take mercy upon all of you who read my stories, lol. Plus I really wanted to post it!... I'm very sorry if it's too detailed or if it runs on... I hope you enjoy!

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She was falling; the blackness was all around her, nothingness and beyond the nothingness there were walls. Huge walls, dark walls, crushing in on all directions, she was going to die… she knew it. She wondered if she would hit the bottom before the walls crushed her, or if she would get crushed first, or if there was no bottom and the walls weren't really there and that her horror would never end. She was about to panic when suddenly, she stopped in midair. Her body gained equilibrium and her feet suddenly hit the ground. In the blackness around her, a dark forest suddenly came into existence. In part she was glad to no longer be falling, but all the while a sense of dark foreboding took a tight grip around her.

She suddenly and involuntarily looked into one of the trees in the forest that now surrounded her. Her pulse raced as a set of large bloodshot eyes stared at her, into her, from the tree branch. She gasped for air, but felt none enter her lungs. Her eyes were still fixated upon the branch and the eyes that were seemingly piercing into the depths of her soul. Then, under the eyes, there appeared a Cheshire like smile… a smile of yellow teeth… terrible sharp yellow teeth. Maniacal laughter filled the air around her as the ground below her gave way. She was falling again into endless darkness, until that is she fell into something.

Her body convulsed as she woke up. Anxiously she looked around, at first she didn't recognize where she was, but after she sat up and had a few moments to calm down, she realized with a sigh that she was safe. "That was just a dream…" she muttered to herself as she shook her head, trying to knock the last of the nightmare out of her mind.

She looked next to her and was puzzled when she saw that there was no one next to her. "Kurosaki?", She called softly as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Kurosaki… where are you?"

She pulled the covers away from herself and sat with her legs dangling over the side of the bed. She stretched out as she stood up, hoping to find him in a few moments. She walked to the bedroom door and pushed it open just a crack, from here, she could hear him speaking.

"No Riko, I didn't know who he was, and no I don't know where we can find him…" He paused to listen to the reply that Teru could not hear. " Yes I suppose I could do a police sketch… but I don't want to leave her alone… "

She pushed the door open a little more; she could see him talking on his phone in the kitchen. There was a pot on the stove, and he was absent mindedly stirring its contents with a wooden spoon as he spoke.

"She's in my room asleep right now… I think she's alright… I'm going to wake her up so she can eat soon, but, I'm glad she's getting some rest… When did you say the investigator was coming to search the apartment?" He spoke softly, and listened to the response to his question eagerly.

"At 8:00? … Oh, okay then… I'll stay with her if they decide to ask her questions… Yes, I'm fine with her staying here for a few weeks, as long as she wants to be here, I'll be happy to have her."

Teru smiled, she was glad that he didn't feel that she was a bother. Although, she was a bit apprehensive about what he had said about questioning, she didn't know if she was ready to tell anyone all of what had happened. She hadn't even told Kurosaki everything yet. He only knew what he saw when he saved her. She walked back over to the bed and looked at the clock on his desk. It was 6:37, she was hungry and thirsty. She decided it was time for her to "wake up", so she deliberately pushed on the bed so that it would creak, and with heavy footed steps she walked towards the door. She swung the door open so it would creak, and started to walk towards the kitchen.

Kurosaki muttered something about sleeping beauty being awake into the phone and hung up as Teru lumbered into the Kitchen. He looked her over. She looked content, and well rested, but he could see something in her smile that wasn't just right. "How'd you sleep?" he asked casually while still stirring the contents of the pot.

She thought about telling him about her nightmare, but thought better of it after a few moments; she didn't want to worry him. "Pretty good." She said as she deliberately fake a smile.

"Uh-huh…" he said seeing that there was something, "How good is pretty good?"

She thought for a moment, " Oh, you know, pretty good… it's like… umm… well… good…"

"What aren't you telling me?" He asked her as he cocked his eyebrow suspiciously.

"God…" She laughed, "How can you read my mind like it's an open book?"

"I don't know… I just can… I guess I just get you… now tell me what's wrong…" He smiled at her, and a bit too jokingly begged, "Please?"

Teru sighed, was he even human? It was insane that he knew something was wrong the moment that she walked in. She didn't want to upset him, and it would probably make her feel better to get it off her chest. " I had a nightmare… there were eyes and sharp teeth… I was falling… I thought I was going to die… I woke up confused and scared… but I'm okay now… it was just a dream and now I'm okay…" She looked at the floor and suddenly felt childish, like a primary school student who had to check under their bed for monsters before they could sleep. Suddenly the distance between them felt immense to her, he was a grown man, and she was only a girl, a young girl who still had nightmares.

"Damn…" He said, pulling her away from her thoughts, "That's scary…" He shook his head, "I'm afraid of heights, so that would kill me… I would have been really scared…" Then, much to his astonishment, she laughed.

"You're afraid of heights?" she said raising one eyebrow apprehensively.

"Terrified" he replied laughing slightly, "But don't tell Riko, she'd never let me live it down…"

She laughed out loud, " I won't, I promise!" Something inside her heart made her change her mind about her earlier thought. Though, it was true he was older than her, and was probably much more fearless. He was still afraid of heights like she was; he wasn't so superhuman, even if he was her hero. She smiled at him, "Something smells really good!"

He laughed at the sudden change of subject, she was a tough girl, she could bounce back from anything, and for that, he was glad. "Are you talking about me or dinner?" He asked as he winked at her.

She laughed, "Unless you smell like food, I'm guessing dinner."

He grinned, "Well sit down at the table and I'd be more than happy to serve you."

"That better not be a euphemism for anything…" she said as she went through the doorway into the dining room. She smiled, she knew he hadn't meant anything by it, but it was fun to tease him the way she teased her.

He laughed to himself; she was definitely clever when she wanted to be. He was glad she was here; he wished that it was under happier circumstance, but nevertheless he was glad she was here with him. He wondered when he should tell her that the police were coming. They were going to be here a little while after dinner. He didn't want her to be surprised or scared when they got here, but he didn't want her to worry for the next hour and a half either. He decided he'd tell her between dinner and dessert.

Grabbing two bowls from the cupboard he started to dish out his homemade chicken soup. He was proud of his handiwork. It looked and smelled great, he just hoped now that it tasted as good as it looked and smelled. He grabbed the bowls, a bag of bread, and two spoons, and tried to balance it all as he preceded to walk to the dining room. He had already cleaned off his small circular table, and the surface that used to contain books, papers, pens, and boxes.

It was now covered only by a table cloth, two place mats, salt and pepper shakers, and a stack of napkins. He had cleaned up a bit and made dinner while she had slept, but he had checked in on her every few minutes to make sure she was sleeping okay. He set a bowl of soup and a spoon down in front of her, and then set everything else down. Once everything was set up to his liking, he walked back into the kitchen to grab drinks.

She smiled, chicken soup was her favorite. She remembered their earlier conversation about him being able to read her like a book. She wondered if he knew she loved chicken soup, or if it were just a mere coincidence. Either way, it was sweet of him to make her dinner. She was starving, so she picked up her spoon and tried the soup. It tasted amazing; it had the perfect chicken to noodle ratio. She giggled a little at her thought. She was pretty sure she was the only one on Earth that would think about the "chicken to noodle ratio". She took another spoonful; the warm broth added another level of comfort to the security she had already been feeling in his home.

He came back in with two glasses of iced-tea. He hadn't really gotten much for groceries lately, and was glad that he had what he did. As he set a glass in front of her, he smiled; she looked like she was thoroughly enjoying the soup. He thanked God in his mind, for the time he had worked at Ohanabatake with master Masuda… that was the only reason why his cooking was decent. He sat down at the seat opposite hers, and took a spoonful of his "creation". He almost sighed in relief, it was good… really good…

Time passed and they ate in silence until he finished, "I'll be right back." He said, walking away as she finished her last spoonful. He was glad she had enjoyed dinner, and was even gladder that he had bought ice-cream on a whim the other day. When he reached into the freezer to grab out the carton, he heard a knock on the door. Looking at the clock, he muttered to himself, "Damn…" it was 7:40, and almost definitely the police investigator. Slamming the freezer door, he silently kicked himself for letting it get so late, and more for not telling her earlier.

He ran out of the kitchen to get the door, but it was too late, Teru was already at the door, in her pajamas, looking more upset than ever. He hated fixing her, only to see her get broken again. He walked over to the door, and grasped her hand, " Teru… this officer is here to ask us a few questions…"

She was shaking… why didn't he warn her? She felt naked in her pajamas, and the last thing she wanted, was to think about the morning's events again. Kurosaki's hand in hers gave her some strength, but she still felt too bare, too exposed. She felt like the eyes of this "investigator" were peering into the very depths of her soul, reading her like a book. The way he could read her was not in the calm, sweet, and caring way that Kurosaki did, but rather, in a way almost too scholarly and analytical to be human. She excused herself quickly by mumbling, "Be back soon…" and releasing Kurosaki's hand.

He let his hand fall to his hand as she scurried off. Turning to the officer, he frowned, "She's not usually like this… she's just been through a lot today… and I don't know how much more pain she can take…" Turning back towards the direction she had walked towards, he said, "Please don't question her too much. She's in pain and the last thing she needs is to think hard about what has happened. I've been taking care of her all day, and it really takes a lot to pick up the pieces after something distresses her… so I'm asking you… begging you… please don't ask too much of her, she's only a confused and hurt little girl."

The officer nodded in acknowledgement, and his expression softened a bit, " I have twin girls about her age, I understand what you mean… I just want to get this bastard off the streets for their sakes, and for the sake of any other girl who he could hurt."

Kurosaki waved him in and shut the door, "Actually, we're pretty sure it was a personal attack officer." He was cautious to say enough without saying too much; he didn't want to get into the information about her brother… that was too personal… and far too off topic for this simple investigation. Maybe just mentioning that he wanted something of hers would be enough.

The officer cocked an eyebrow, " So she knew the attacker then?"

"No sir, she didn't, but the reason he apparently attacked her was for something she was left by her brother." He had to carefully check his wording, he didn't want to let too little or too much on.

"What did she have that he wanted?" The investigator asked suspiciously, " Was it money or an antique?"

Kurosaki shook his head, "No sir, we're not quite sure what he wanted… only that he wanted something of her brother's."

The officer again nodded, " Do you believe that she would be stable enough for questioning today?"

He frowned, he wanted to say no, for her sake. But at the same time he wanted to get it over with, so he could once again pick up the pieces and help her feel better again. He wanted that creep behind bars so that he could never hurt anyone again… especially not Teru. He made up his mind… " So long as I can be with her… Yes."

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Mehhh... bad chapter I know _

The next one will be better I promise!

I'll post the next chapter sometime between the 30th and the 7th (Between our school's pep rally and my boyfriend and my one year anniversary)

Oh and I've finally read daisy up until chapter 40 ( I can only read it in study hall due to lack of time) and I'm soooooooooo excited for the next 2 chapters!


	7. Cry

Okay, so I wrote this in between the pep-rally and my brother's soccer game (I was a typing machine today!) so please forgive any mistakes or droning... it may have been the green hair dye leaching into my brain... (We're the Green and White Wildcats! Go us!) Please enjoy and review!

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Teru was curled up in a dark corner of Kurosaki's bedroom, trying hard to keep her emotions in check as she began to hyperventilate. There was a man in the kitchen that was going to ask her questions. The questions that she wasn't ready to answer… the questions that would break her down. It was odd to her, that, just moments ago, being with Kurosaki had made this morning feel like the dull ache of a painful long past memory. But, now the dull ache had turned into a stabbing pain, thoughts kept flooding to her mind… fact and fiction tangling together into a twisted dance of truth and lies.

She felt like crying, it was hard for her to believe that just moments ago she had been happy. She felt anxious and dirty, the painful memories of her almost-rape welled up inside her. Suddenly all of her cuts and bruises began to hurt again… it was that intense and sudden pain that finally shoved her over the edge, as tears welled up in her eyes, she began to cry softly to herself. She wondered why every time she started to feel okay, something else painful happened to her. Why every time her wounds started to heal, a sick and twisted force slit the skin again and rubbed in salt to be sure she'd feel the sting.

She tried to stop crying and stand up, but her legs were weak with the pain and weight that they held. She fell back to the floor without much of a noise. Now desperate with the need to move, she crawled on her hands and knees towards the bed, but before she could make it, her hand touched something soft. As tears stung her eyes, she recognized what the item was and sat up with it in her hands. She held it up to her face and cried into it, trying to control her breathing; she began to hyperventilate once again. "Daisy", she whispered softly into the fabric between hiccoughs and deep trembling breaths, "Keep me safe…"

Kurosaki turned towards his bedroom door when he heard a light thud on the floor. He wanted to go in and check on her, but instead, he must first answer the questions of the detective sitting across from him. They were now seated at his small kitchen table answering and asking each other questions between sips of coffee. He was drinking the caffeinated beverage to calm his nerves, but as he could see by the officer's third cup, he was drinking out of habit.

He thought about bringing Teru a cup, but his thoughts were interrupted by the officer's next question.

"What was the situation when you arrived, and how did you get in?" the officer asked as he sat with his pen and notebook ready.

He sighed as he prepared to answer his question, " I was late for work when I heard shouts coming from her apartment, then crashing, then silence… I heard a door slam, and I recalled that her roommate, Riko, was not home. I was worried for her well-being and knocked on the door, no one answered, and scared for her safety I tried to open the door, when it wouldn't open, I kicked it down."

"You kicked it down?" The officer asked with sudden interest.

"Yes, I kicked it down. Why?"

"No reason… just impressed, it must have taken a lot of strength to break down a locked door."

He half laughed, "Not so much strength as it is headstrongness… I actually have a bruise on my shoulder I think…"

The officer chuckled to himself, "Alright then, continue please."

Kurosaki's face became solemn; there were no other parts in this story that were even slightly laughable. "Well," , he said pausing for a moment before continuing his tale, " when I got inside, I looked for her. She wasn't in the kitchen or the living room, but I saw signs of a struggle, so I was worried. The next place I checked was her bedroom, I slammed the door open… and… well, there she was." For a moment he wasn't sure if he could continue talking without letting out his emotions. Remembering what he had seen this morning broke his heart, he held back tears as he continued. "She was being loomed over by a large man… he had pulled off her shirt and was in the process of taking off her skirt when I arrived." He took a long pause, unsure of what to say next.

The officer nodded to him, " I see… and what did you do to the man?"

"Well… when I walked in I guess he wasn't expecting any interruptions… He got up off the bed and away from Teru, and I lured him into the living room. He had a knife, but I knocked it out of his hand. He tried to get it, but before he could, I grabbed a figurine from a shelf near the couch and hit him in the back of the head with it. He fell to the ground and I checked his pulse… he was out, but not dead. I dragged him out into the hallway, and went to check on Teru. I grabbed to discarded knife from the floor… and I… I…"

"You what?" the officer asked whilst cocking an eyebrow.

Tears stung his eyes as he remembered Teru lying on the bed; he hung his head down as tears ran down his face. "I took the knife in with me to cut the tape off of her… I had come with the intentions of rescuing her and then leaving her and calling her roommate… but when I saw her lying there… I just couldn't." He began to physically cry as streams of hot tears flooded down his face, " God…" he said shaking his head, " She was so broken… she had cuts and marks and bruises all over her… and the blood… well… it was hard for me to take…" He tried to regain his composure as he told him the next part.

"After I cut her free, I helped her put her clothes back on and insisted she go to the hospital with me… I was worried about her wellbeing, but knowing she didn't want to go, I promised her I'd bring her wherever she wanted to go after we got out of the hospital. She agreed to my plan, then after she had been checked by the doctor, she asked to come here… before we even left for the doctors, the creep had run off… and I just had time a little while ago to call Riko to tell her to call the police. So I guess that's the whole story…" He nodded at the conclusion of his story and, wiping away his tears, he looked back to the investigator."

"You said she had many wounds and marks?"

"Yes, she does…" Kurosaki said nodding… he did not like where this was going.

"Well… we'll need pictures of them for the case file, along with her personal story of the happenings."

"Pictures?" Kurosaki said, hoping he had heard him incorrectly.

"Yes…" the detective said solemnly, "I know it's a lot to ask of her, but unfortunately later on to have much of a case, we'll need pictures of all of the marks on her body caused by this incident."

He shook his head… he didn't like this… and he knew that she would definitely not like this.

She heard a knock on the door. She had since moved to huddle in a corner near his closet on the other side of the room. Pulling on the hoodie of his that she had been holding on to, she spoke softly, "Come in…"

He walked in slowly, unsure of how to break the bad news to her. When he got near her, he kneeled down in front of her and began to speak, "I'm really sorry I didn't warn you Teru… I just lost track of time at dinner… and more than anything… I didn't want to disappoint or upset you."

She nodded at him with her face turned down at the floor. She was unsure of what to say, and even if she did speak she was sure her voice would break.

He watched her for a few moments, she was in so much pain, whether it was from what was happening to her now, or her memories of this morning, he didn't know. What he did know was that he was filled with the need to make her pain cease.

He moved so that he was behind her, and while wrapping his arms around her, he whispered into her ear, " I know this is hard for you… but I'll be right there with you the whole time… I promise, I won't leave you alone for even a second."

His lips were almost brushing her ear as he spoke, which combined with the low deep voice he was using, put her into a type of mesmerized state. Her pain dulled to a slight ache and all she could think of was his warm breath on her ear and the back of her neck. She wasn't scared anymore; she could do anything as long as he was there to hold her hand.

"Okay…" she murmured still absorbed in the feeling of calm her had caused her to feel, "What does he want to know?"

She heard him stand up behind her, and saw his hand go down to help her up. Taking it, her feeling of safety and assuredness fell away, her pain returned, and the look on his face told her everything he wasn't saying. There was more bad news.

"Well…" he said thinking about the best way to word what he needed to say, while at the same time being careful to protect her feelings, " He needs your personal account of what happened… and…"

"And?" she repeated curious as to what he didn't want to say. In her mind, it couldn't be anything worse than having to describe in full detail, the worst morning of her life.

"And… well Teru… he needs pictures… of all of the marks on your body caused by what happened this morning… he said we had three options for how we could do it…"

She nodded, trying not to let her anxiety show. She tried to keep her face in a perfect mask of non-emotion, even though on the inside she was extremely uneasy. She was supposed to strip down for pictures? She had never taken an even slightly suggestive picture of herself before in her life, and now they wanted her to remove her clothing for what she basically saw as legal porn.

"Well, option one would be wait until they can get a female detective or nurse here to take your pictures, the second would be for the detective here to do it, and the third would be for me to do it." He hung his head in embarrassment as he finished his statement. He partially wanted her to let him do it, and another part of him was screaming to her to wait for the woman to come. He of course wanted to see her naked, or semi-naked as this case would be, but at the same time, he didn't want her to feel exposed or dirty when he did it. He wanted it to be of her own consent, he wanted her to feel safe with him, and most of all he wanted her to not be in any pain when he did so.

She sighed, for such a difficult question for him to ask, she had come up with her answer within a matter of seconds. She didn't want a stranger to see her mostly naked, and Kurosaki had already seen where all her bruises were. She didn't have any marks anywhere exceedingly private, except one small one in the general area of her left breast. But, she was ninety percent sure that it was below the area covered by her bra.

"I'll let you to do it… on one condition…" she said trying her hardest to look expressionless.

"Mmmm… and what's the condition?" he said cocking an eyebrow in his curiosity.

"Swear to me that you won't tell anyone you've seen me… exposed…" she muttered, again looking at the floor to hide the emotion on her face. That emotion was utter and total embarrassment.

He thought of the millions of rude, crude, and quite frankly hysterical comments he could make about the conversation they just had, but he knew that now was definitely not the right time or place...not to mention that it would hurt her feelings... which was the last thing he wanted to do... So instead, he did the only rational thing he could think of, he pulled her towards him and held her close. He took special care to hold her lightly because of her wounds, but he still held her firmly enough to make her feel completely secure. Into her hair he spoke softly the two words she needed to hear, "I promise."

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I hope you enjoyed my latest chapter _ I know it came out pretty crappy, but it was basically a set up for the next couple chapters which are going to be EXTREMELY sweet and interesting! ( I hope...) Well anyway, please review, tell me if it's getting boring or monotonous... because I'm feeling like I'm on borderline monotony... Please review, and if you're too lazy to log in or don't have a fan-fiction account, you can leave me your email and I'll send you a message each time I update... sound good? Well peace out!

-Jinx (Em)


	8. Feel

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I'm posting this chapter later than originally intended, but this has been a busy weekend for me. Also, I wrote this on and off at different times on different days, so it may seem a little jumpy... But i hope you enjoy it!

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It was ten minutes into her questioning and she was pretty sure she had answered every question he could have thrown at her. She felt anxious, and the only thing that was keeping her the slightest bit sane, was Kurosaki's proximity to her. He was sitting in the seat beside her, and although they were not touching, she could practically feel his heat. His warmth reminded her of how cold she was feeling despite the comfortable temperature of the room. She snuggled into the hoodie a bit deeper, and ignored the increasing pain she was feeling from the bruises and marks on her body. She thought about asking Kurosaki for more pain killers, but then thought better of it. The less time she wasted, the sooner the detective would leave, and the earlier he left, the better, at least in her eyes.

The Investigator had asked her what had occurred, where she had been, what he said to her, everything, even down to the slightest detail of the man's body. He asked her about every single feature of the man, eye color, hair color, apparent age, birthmarks, moles, eyebrows, nose shape, and other distinguishing characteristics. After her best description of the man's appearance, as well as Kurosaki's contribution, she had been shown a sketch drawn by the investigator.

When he had turned the sketch pad around, she had almost fainted. It wasn't just close, it was spot on… every feeling of joy and happiness seemed to leak out of her being once she saw it. In her mind his features taunted her, reveling in her pain, and laughing at her fears. Her pulse quickened and her fear began to pump adrenalin through her veins. She had quickly nodded and told the detective that the sketch was accurate as her eyes pleaded for him to turn the sketch away from her.

Now that all of the other information had been collected and all formalities had been handled, Teru knew what was coming. She sighed, it was time for the part of the investigation that neither of the men wanted to mention, it was time to photograph her injuries. Part of her hoped that they had forgotten about it, or that the detective had decided that it was unnecessary, but her hopes were dashed as the man took Kurosaki aside beyond Teru's ear shot to talk to him and hand him a camera.

Kurosaki listened to the officer as he was handed the camera, but his attention was not on the words that he said, but was on Teru. She was sitting at the table completely blank faced, she hadn't said a word unless she had been first been spoken to since the detective had started to ask her questions. She was alone in her thoughts, the worst place she could be at the moment, and yet she portrayed no emotion. She hid her fear and pain behind a barrier that was exceedingly difficult to see past, even for Kurosaki.

He nodded as the officer finished his instruction. Walking towards Teru he felt anxious, he didn't want to put her through this uncomfortable situation. Knowing that he had to, he sighed, and "sucked up" his own personal fear. As he reached the table, he decided that he would try to put her at ease if at all possible.

"Is it time?" She asked him while faking a grin; she felt the need to make conversation, even if it was superfluous. She already knew that it was indeed time for them to take the photos, but she felt that hearing his voice would possibly calm her nerves.

"Yeah…" He muttered softly as he took her hand and helped her stand up. As she stood up, he gently rested one hand on her back to guide her as they walked the longest few steps of their lives. It was only down the hallway from the Kitchen, but his nervousness made it feel like miles. "Teru…" he whispered to her as they approached the bathroom door.

"Yes?" She said, curious as to what he was going to say. She imagined a few different scenarios, good and bad about what he might say next. While she was unsure what he would say, she hoped that it would be softly spoken words of comfort. This at the moment was what she needed to hear the most.

"I… I just wanted you to know that… you can back out of this at any time… I mean, we could wait and have Riko come if you don't want me… or a nurse to." He looked into her eyes as he chose his words carefully. Her eyes were dull and lacked their usual glimmer of happiness and hope. He hoped that very soon, that shine would return to her eyes and that very soon a smile would reappear on her lips.

She listened to his words and thought on what he had said for a moment. She hadn't thought about having Riko take her pictures, her only thought had been of strangers or Kurosaki. After a moment of thought she replied to his question, "I'm sure." She said softly, trying to reassure him that she felt safe with him.

"Really…" He said as he cocked his eyebrow in minor disbelief, knowing that even if she wanted to have him see her naked, or at least partially so, she would not have wanted it to happen under their current situation. He wondered if maybe she just didn't want to wait, or if she felt uncomfortable with Riko. His other thought was the one that carried the most weight with him, it was the possibility that she just felt safe with him, and was more comfortable round him than others. This thought made him feel less anxious about the action he was about to commit, and for the first time as himself rather than as Daisy, he felt like she looked to him as her protector. Fortified by this thought he touched her hand lightly and tried to reassure her with his words. "I promise… that I will… uh… I'll try to…"

She cut him off, understanding his difficulty in finding the right words, "You promise you won't look at anything you shouldn't."

"Uhh, yeah…" He said, somewhat embarrassed by her frankness, but more upset that he couldn't find the words he had been looking for. He looked down at the floor, he felt like she saw him as an old perverted lolicon.

She laughed awkwardly as she saw him look down. She was angry with herself due to her wording, she hadn't meant for him to think that she thought he would look at her in that way. She had only meant to finish his sentence in hopes that he would see that she wasn't worried about him doing such a thing. She wanted to show him that she trusted him. "I didn't mean for it to come off that way…" she said nervously as she looked to the ground. "I apologize."

He looked back up at her, "There's nothing to apologize about… it was just a misunderstanding, they happen all the time." On the inside, he was sighing with relief, while it may have been an awkward moment; they at the very least knew how the other felt on the topic of how sensitive their undertaking was.

"So, are you ready?" She asked hesitantly as she tried to shake off the odd feeling she had felt from their peculiar discussion just moments earlier.

"Uh… I guess…" He said cautiously as he turned on the digital camera he had been handed, and pushed the door open to his bathroom. "Whenever you are… I suppose."

She stepped in before him; she felt awkward and was once again overwhelmingly aware of the crushing pain coming from the broken and bruised spots on her body. The pain was stabbing, but for some reason she couldn't explain, she tried to hide it from him. Maybe it was because she didn't want to delay the inevitable, maybe it was because she didn't want to worry him, but for whatever reason, she tried to hide what she was feeling, but failed miserably.

He saw her jolt slightly and knew that something was wrong. He also knew she was trying to hide it, and at the moment he felt as though they should be completely truthful with each other. He stepped in through the door way with her and shut the door behind them. Standing behind her, he cautiously grabbed her arm and asked, "What's wrong?"

She was surprised and not surprised at the same time by his question. It was startling to her that she wasn't camouflaging her feelings as well as she thought she had been, but it didn't shock her a bit that he had been able to see through her masked pain instantaneously. She wondered if she should tell him the truth… that she was in agony, and needed something to dull the pain, or if she should continue to pretend that nothing was wrong. Deciding to carry on with her deception, she began to speak, "Noth…"

He cut her off mid word, " Teru…", he said as calmly as he could, "don't lie to me…" His words were beseeching, and his gaze was pleading, he wanted to know what was wrong, and he wanted to make it better.

She was stunned by his abruptness in cutting her off, but at the same time, she was glad she wouldn't have to lie to him more. Every time she lied to or mislead him, it cut her heart deeply. To her even the smallest white lie was painful when spoken from her lips to him. She didn't like to lie to him, and she never wanted to, but it was easier on her heart to let out a small lie than to worry him. She looked down at the floor in embarrassment, as she had done very often lately. She felt immature like a child who had been caught in a lie by their parents.

He watched as her utter embarrassment shone on her cheeks in the form of an extremely red blush. He sighed, he hadn't meant to embarrass her, and all he wanted from her was the truth. "So… what's wrong?" He asked her hoping to pull her back into the conversation without too much awkwardness.

"Oh… um…" She said still very anxious about asking him for anything, "I think my pain killers wore off… and", She paused as she watched him slap himself on the forehead.

"Of course!" he yelled at himself, "Your medication wore off hours ago…why didn't I think about that!" He took a couple steps and opened the door on the medicine cabinet above his sink. He shifted a few bottles around until he found the one he was looking for and pulled it out. "I forgot to go pick up your prescription strength pain killers… but for now will Ibuprofen be okay?"

She nodded, feeling half glad for the medicine, and half uncomfortable about being fussed over. She smiled lightly as he dropped two small orange pills into her hand, and turned to grab a cup from the sink to fill it with water. It occurred to her briefly to her embarrassment, that his lips had touched the cup at least once, if not more. But when he handed it to her, she took her pills and drank from it, all the same, happy to have something in her system to dull her aches.

"So, are you ready now, or would you like to wait for the pain-killers to kick in?" He asked her cautiously, now hoping that she would answer honestly without being solicited.

He genuinely thought about his question, and then answered the obvious response, which she knew would get this ordeal over faster. "Let's just do it now… you know, do get it over with…" she said thoughtfully, hoping he would also want to get the job done fast.

"Okay…" he said as he nodded, and flicked the camera's mode to accommodate for the less than perfect lighting in his small bathroom. "I guess we should start with your arms first…" he said as he pointed to her… his hoodie that she was wearing.

She pulled the hoodie off and put her arms straight out, so that all of the red marks and dark-purple-ish-black bruises could be clearly seen. The air in his bathroom felt cold on her bare skin, but she noticed that occasionally, but more often than strictly necessary, he touched her arm or her shoulder in order to adjust its position. The warmth of the little touches and brushes of his skin seemed to radiate through her. The feeling of warmth he gave her was more than enough to make her feel comfortable.

As he photographed the last picture on her arm, he wondered which question would be less awkward to ask her first: Could you remove your pants, or could you take off your shirt? He almost sighed in relief as she pretty much read his mind and began to pull off her shirt slowly and carefully. When she removed her shirt, he was shocked by what he saw. The red marks that had been there earlier in the day, had seemingly doubled in size and had changed completely in color from an aggravated rash like red, to a dark-purple-blue bruise. He put a hand on her stomach lightly as he began to photograph her back first; it was almost as bad as her stomach. As he looked at a particularly nasty looking bruise near the center of her back, he thanked God that she had not received any spinal damage from her brush with the devil. Suddenly overcome with an emotional need to make her feel better, he leaned down low and after photographing it, he pressed his lips lightly to the mark.

She felt his lips brush one of the bruises in her back… it sent shivers racing up her spine. She was overcome with and amazing "hot and cold" feeling: although shivers were running up her spine, she felt a warm blush cover, not only her cheeks, but her whole body. She closed her eyes and smiled lightly, she felt safe and warm and wanted, all the things she needed most today. As she felt his lips part from her skin, she also felt the familiar brush of his hand. It was going up and down her back. His touch was solid enough that she could feel it there, but at the same time, it was gentle enough that it didn't hurt any of her sensitive skin.

As he finished photographing her back, he sighed, the next two parts would be the most difficult, her chest and stomach, and her lower body and legs. Part of him felt awkward about touching and photographing the bare skin of a young woman, in such private places, but a stronger part of him told him that as long as he was clean and gentle about what he was doing, there was no harm in doing it. So, the first photo he took on her front was of a bruise the size and shape of a door knob just above her belly button. As he slowly worked his way up from bruise to bruise he came to the last one, which was right above her chest. It was a rather small bruise compared to the rest he had seen, it was about the size of a silver dollar. But to him, something about it called, and without thinking he kissed it in the same lip-lingering way he had the bruise on her back.

Teru blushed brighter and harder than she had with the last kiss, but had no idea what to do. A million thoughts raced in her head, but none were discernable from any of the others. It was like her brain was on overload and was completely blank at the same time. Without her even noticing, her body went on autopilot. It knew what to do even if she did not. She felt light headed as she put a hand into his hair, and the other on his shoulder. Her fingers tangled into his hair and slowly smoothed it in a wordless-body-language- thank-you.

As he felt her fingers play with his hair, he suddenly became aware of his actions. His mind that had been frosted over by lusty thoughts now became 100% clear, and he pulled his head away from the area of the mark. When he felt her fingers disentangle from his hair, he blushed hard and looked away from her. "Sorry about that…" he muttered quickly as he picked repositioned the camera in his hand and got ready to take another photograph.

She was speechless and just merely nodded as she allowed him to finish photographing her chest. The photos of her lower half went quickly and without incident, and after he was finished he left her to get redressed while he gave the detectives the photos.

Pulling her pants up and returning her clothes to their proper positions, she sighed, earlier today she had felt like a child to him. Earlier she felt as though there was no possible way he could feel the same way she did… but after their "moment" she wondered if he felt more than she ever could've believed possible.

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I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, this one marks the end of the "angst-dominate" chapters, but there might be a bit in the other chapters. How do you guys feel about a Halloween themed chapter? (Like trick or treating or a scary movie?) Well let me know, as always please review with Comments, Complaints, Concerns, General Ranting, Life Stories, Etc. I'll post the new chapter when I get 8 reviews, or 10/16/11!  
Adios!  
-Jinx


	9. Between Heaven And Hell

I do not own Dengeki Daisy, although I wish I did, because if I did Kuroasaki and Teru would be married by now and would have cute little babies named Ami and Kira! (I need to come up with better baby names... I know, but it's late and I'm lazy!)

Also, I haven't owned any of the songs or song lyrics that are used to title my chapters... just thought I should through that out there now that I've finally thought to add a disclaimer!

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Kurosaki tried to collect himself as he walked into the kitchen with the camera. His thoughts and emotions were running wild, and he was almost one-hundred percent sure that the officer would notice. He tried to numb his mind and pull himself together as he caught sight of the officer sitting at his table thumbing through a file and jotting notes with a pen.

As the officer noticed Kurosaki's entrance to the room, he stood up from his seat and walked over to meet him. "Any trouble?" He asked casually as he tucked the file back into his bag.

"None officer." Kurosaki replied as he handed the man the camera, "I photographed every mark I could find."

"Alright then…" The detective said nodding, "We'll be in touch." And with the completion of that statement, he collected the rest of his papers from the table and walked out the front door.

Kurosaki sighed lightly as the door shut behind the officer. His mind was now clear, and he felt as though he needed to think about the situation with Teru. Taking a seat at his table, he began to reflect on his recent thoughtless slip-up. He was in love with her, and not even he could lie to himself and say that he wasn't. He had "loved" other women before, but not in the way that he loved Teru now. She meant something to him; she meant something that was far more important than sex or physicality. She did not mean love to him, she meant more than love. He couldn't think of a word to describe the emotions he felt towards her. Mere words like love, adoration, care, affection, and need were not strong enough to describe the way he felt towards her. He felt like he was losing his mind.

He wanted her, he needed her both in an emotional and sexual way. She was his only reason for living, and seeing her broken like she was this morning made him want to run out guns blazing to catch the bastard who hurt her. In part, he wanted to be the detective who just left his apartment. He wanted to hunt down the man who had hurt her, and cause him the same pain she had felt, and more for good measure. The only thing that kept him sitting at the table was his knowledge of her needing him near her, not out searching.

That knowledge gave him hope. Hope that maybe, possibly she felt the same way he did. He was so deeply in love with her, that sometimes he didn't even think of the way she felt. His actions in the bathroom had proven that. He hadn't thought twice about kissing her in such a suggestive place, because in his mind, she felt the same. But in all honesty he had no idea how she felt about him, maybe she only saw him as a friend, or as a protector. Maybe she saw him as family, an older brother like figure. Maybe she was disgusted by his actions just moments ago.

"No..." he muttered out loud to himself. He knew that she couldn't be offended or disgusted by what had happened. She hadn't pulled away from him when he did it, and the way her fingers twisted his hair had been gentle and almost caressing. To him, it was proof that maybe, just maybe she felt the way he did… but still, what he had did was uncalled for, and he felt the need to apologize to her for his actions.

As she finished pulling on his hoodie, she heard a knock at the door of the bathroom. "Come in…" she said warmly as she adjusted her hair in the small bathroom mirror.

He pulled the door open slowly and watched her as she fixed her hair. She looked calmer than she had when he left her, and that thought comforted him as he cleared his throat to speak. "Teru?" he asked quietly, trying his hardest to not bother her.

"Hmmm?", was her only response as she continued to fiddle with her hair.

"I… well… I apologize for my earlier behavior… it was uncalled for…" he said blushing as he turned away from her so that she could not see how red his face was.

She laughed to herself in her mind; she had known he would apologize for what he had done. "There's no reason for you to apologize…" she said softly trying to reassure him that he had done nothing wrong. She knew that what he did was far from wrong, it was only instinct, and she couldn't say that she hadn't liked it.

He was shocked by her response; she didn't even seem flustered by the action that had occurred between them. In fact, she seemed at peace with it, like it was no more involved than a handshake. He almost couldn't believe it, and his mind tried to reason how it could be so. Did she just trust and understand him, or did she feel the same natural attraction that he felt towards her? He decided that there were only two ways to find out… he could ask, or… he could experiment. Choosing the more interesting of the two, he caught her hand in his. "There's no reason for me to apologize?" he asked her by repeating her words in an inquisitive and playful tone.

"No reason at all." She replied, extremely curious as to what he was up to. He was acting very oddly and impish, he was acting extremely playful, and she just didn't know why. She couldn't really focus long enough to think about what he was doing, because he had moved again.

He was now holding her close to him in an almost-embrace. One hand was still in hers, while the other crept slowly down her lower back. "None?" he asked, his voice deep and breathy right near her ear.

His lips were so close that the air escaping his lips moved her hair and tickled her ear. She was melting under his touch and losing her mind under his spell. She tried hard to keep her head clear as she replied back, "Not a one…" She was losing her train of thought and there was nothing she could do about it. She leaned in closer to him, and it felt as though warmth and safety was radiating from his touch. This is what love is supposed to feel like, she mused in her head, as he disentangled his fingers from hers in order to hold her tighter around her waist.

He smiled lightly and for the first time, everything was completely clear to him. He was in love with her, and by the way she was holding him just as tight as he was holding her, he could tell, she loved him too. He craned his neck down and looked into her eyes, a familiar light had in part returned to them. The return of the light to her eyes, reminded him of just how much he loved to see her happy.

She stared up at him, he looked the happiest he had all day, and she was glad. She loved the look of contentment his eyes held. To her, it happened again, everything in her mind went blank, and her body went on its instinctive programming with nothing to guide it but feeling. Her hands reached up, one to grab the collar of his shirt, and the other, the side of his face. Gently she pulled his face down lower to her level, and angled his head to the side with a brush of her fingers and her thumb. Slowly, but deliberately, she moved her face closer to his, and when she got close enough, she kissed him on the cheek quickly and moved her head away from his.

Her cheeks shone red as a sign of her feelings of awkwardness and nervousness as she looked up at him. She could've sworn she saw a light blush on his cheeks too, but she wasn't completely sure. Her mind was fuzzy with adrenaline and emotion, so she couldn't blame herself about her lack of foresight as to what happened next.

He was shocked by her sudden, kind and gentle kiss. He had been correct; she did have feelings for him. His mind, also clouded by passion and excitement, did not allow him to think about what he was doing. His actions came naturally and automatically as he put his hand on her cheek softly, and tilted up her head. He saw her eyes, full of pleasurable surprise as he smoothly moved and slanted his lips upon hers... As their lips met, he felt an overwhelming sensation of delight and harmony. His mind suddenly cleared, and his thoughts were on nothing but Teru and himself. He felt a peaceful bliss that he had never before experienced, and the feeling delighted and startled him at the same time.

It all happened too fast for her to understand fully what was happening. She remembered kissing him on the cheek, but she wasn't quite sure how his lips had come to be on hers. While she was curious as to how it came to be, she knew one thing for certain, she liked it. She felt as though she was melting, her eyes closed slowly so she could better take in the pleasurable experience. She was surprised when the kiss ended as abruptly as it had begun, and as she leisurely opened her eyes she saw him looking down at her with a light in his eyes that made her feel like flying. She felt amazing, they may not have said a thing, but there was a mutual understanding of feelings, even without verbal communication.

They were in love with each other, and now neither could deny it to themselves, or the other. Finally there was something definite and tangible between them, and it all came to be in less than a minute.

Teru felt as though she were in a dream as Kurosaki smiled at her. He took her hand and walked towards the kitchen with her. He seemed to know that she was in a daze as he led her, because he walked slowly and kept a good grip on her hand as they walked.

When they were in the dining room, he sat Teru in a chair and smiled at her lightly in a reassuring way. Then he walked into the kitchen and took out his tea kettle. He put water into the kettle and set it on the stove to boil as he dug through his cabinet for tea. He had three boxes, one was green tea, the other was chamomile, and the last was a sampler pack of several fruit flavored teas. He thought about asking her, but decided that because he was making tea to relax her enough to go to sleep, that chamomile would be the best choice. He wasn't entirely sure if she liked chamomile or not, but he was pretty sure that he had seen her drink it once before.

She regained her composure as he left the room. She wasn't quite sure how what just happened could have happened… He had kissed her! She had been dazed when it happened, but now that her mind was clear, she could remember the event precisely. Thinking about their kiss made her blush, it was such a purely sweet moment and she could hardly believe how naturally it came for her. She remembered her first kiss, which had been stolen from her… then compared it to this one. The first had been embarrassing and harsh, but with Kurosaki… it had been natural and soft, and for that, she silently thanked him. In her mind Kurosaki's kiss replaced Akira's; she no longer had to be embarrassed about a stolen kiss, because now she had been kissed properly. Sighing and breaking away her thoughts she looked down at a newspaper which happened to be on the table. Her favorite part of the newspaper was the comics and the puzzles. Seeing that the crossword puzzle had not been touched, she stood up from her chair and began to look around the room for a pen.

As he stood in the kitchen waiting for the water in the kettle to boil, a long overdue thought finally hit Kurosaki. The thought being that, he hadn't yet said a thing to Teru! He smacked his hand to his forehead, he had let body language talk for him, but he had said nothing. Their first kiss together and he hadn't thought to say a single thing, not "I love you", "You're beautiful", or even a simple word such as "wow". And "Wow" was surely what he felt after kissing her, He had kissed other women before, but kissing Teru was a different experience all together. He had actually been nervous when he went to kiss her; he had felt like a teenager again. He felt like he had been a thirteen year old boy trying to kiss a girl, one that was so nervous that he nearly missed. The feeling, although foreign to him, was a good one… it made him feel something that he hadn't felt in a long time, and that feeling was the feeling of being truly happy.

As the kettle began to whistle he tried to think of something to say to her, even if it was just small talk. He could just come out and say that he loved her, but he felt that it would be too silly or insulting to say something so powerful while they were doing something as small as having tea together. His next thought was to compliment something about her, like her hair or her eyes, but he shot down that idea by believing it to be too cliché. Still unsure of what to say, he prepared two cups of tea and brought them out to the table where he saw her busy scrawling with a pen. He looked down to see that she had almost finished the crossword puzzle. Shocked, he said, "You're honestly almost done with that?"

She smiled and laughed, "Yeah… I'm kind of a wealth of useless information…" In truth, she truly did love random information and liked to pick it up whenever she could, sometimes she even sought it out on her own for fun.

It wasn't exactly the first thing he wanted to say to her, but it broke the ice, and didn't seem to bother her, so he was thankful for his moment of "Mouth before mind." He set one of the cups down in front of her and took a sip of his own, "Do you want sugar or milk for it?" Personally he liked his tea straight, he wasn't big on adding extra sugar or honey to it, but when he was in the mood for something sweet, he would just have fruit tea.

"No, I'm fine." She said as she picked up the mug and took a sip. It was chamomile, which wasn't really her favorite flavor of tea, but warm tea was a welcomed thing. As the warm liquid trickled down her throat, it added another layer of comfort to the calm she was now experiencing. She was a little nervous about what had happened between them, but now she was more comfortable than she was uneasy. She continued to drink her tea down to the last drop, and it definitely did its job. She was so tired she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

He smiled as he saw her eyelids fluttering shut, her features showed exhaustion and happiness at the same time. He was glad that the day's events were seemingly behind her, and that she was apparently happy. "That's it…" He said as he set his mug down and stood up. "You're going to bed."

"Huh?" She said blinking her eyes and looking at him, "What did you say?"

"I said you're going to bed!" he said as he walked over to her and pulled out her chair while she was still in it.

She shook her head, "But I'm not tired!" She fibbed as she tried her hardest to keep her eyes open. It was a daunting task given the fact that each lid felt as though it was being pressed downward by weights. She was extremely tired, but she didn't want to fall asleep. In her mind she thought that, tonight was a sure thing, everything was going okay… but tomorrow… tomorrow held surprises she had no idea of guessing.

"Yes you are…" He said softly as he picked her up out of her chair and held her in his arms bridal style. He grinned at her playfully, but tenderly as she looked up at him from her position in his arms. Smoothly he bent down and kissed her forehead as he walked towards his bedroom. He was happy to see that he was making her happy. When he looked back down at her, her lids were once again drifting shut and her expression was gentle and almost angelic. Yes, angelic, he thought as he set her gently down on his bed. Though he would never say it out loud, he thought she looked like an angel, a pure angel, there to renounce his sins and make him pure… after her slumber… of course.

She felt her back meet the bed, but she wasn't conscious of much else. She blamed the tea and his relaxing presence for the overwhelming grogginess she felt. She was so tired that she couldn't even keep a straight train of thought. She wanted to say something, but her lips could not form the words that her mind was having a hard time coming up with. She strained to focus on what was happening around her, but it was of little use, she was so tired, that nothing could hold her attention for more than a few moments. But one thing did catch her attention, and that one thing was the sound of footsteps going away from the bed. She put all of her energy into sitting upright, as she watched him step out of the room, he said something that she didn't quite catch and he started walking away further. "No…" She said with all the strength in her voice that she could muster. She was satisfied when he turned around and looked at her.

"Teru… didn't you hear me?" He said lightly laughing. He supposed she had tuned out, and his thought was proven correct by her shaking her head 'no'. "I said, that I'd be right back, I was just going to brush my teeth… I also said that if you wanted to change again, I got you some more clothes from your apartment…and you're welcome to anything of mine…"

She nodded at his statement, she was now focused at least enough to understand what he was saying. It may have just been her tired imagination, but she was almost entirely sure that the last part of what he said had been low and hopeful , like he was embarrassed for saying it, but he was still hopeful that she would do it. Deciding to change, she rolled out of bed and walked over to his dresser. Her clothes were placed on top, but she didn't even bother to look through them, she just started to search through drawers and ended up finding his t-shirts. She looked through them and smiled at ones she had seen him wear. There were green shirts, blue shirts, black shirts, and shirts of many other colors, some had designs, but most were plain. The one she decided upon was just a simple grey crew neck men's t-shirt. There was nothing special about it other than it looked very old and worn.

She pulled off her own shirt, and set it next to her clothing pile. She pulled on his shirt, and was pleasantly surprised on how soft and warm it was. She was embarrassed at her next thought, but at the same time, she urged herself to act upon it. Slowly but surely, as she blushed, she slid her shorts off. The shirt was long, so everything remained covered, but her embarrassment was simply on the fact that she was wearing basically nothing but his shirt. As she walked back to his bed, the fabric ran over the tops of her legs lightly, it was a pleasant feeling as she lay back down on his bed. She smiled, nothing was going to happen tonight, she was going to sleep well, next to him, and be warm.

He walked through the door to see her laying on his bed smiling. He was now dressed only in a pair of pajama pants, and quickly noticed that she was wearing only a shirt. The thought of her only wearing his shirt and him only wearing pants amused him for a moment. But as he approached the bed, he felt all feelings leave his body except for the feelings of pure love and peace. He turned out the lights and sat on the bed, but then felt her hand on his shoulder, as if silently telling him to lay down next to her.

She smiled as he lay down next to her. She felt the urge again to say something, but she couldn't find the right words. He brought the blankets go over top of them both, and she reflexively rolled closer to him. He was warm and comfortable, so she wasn't all that surprised with herself when she curled right up into him. She put her head on his chest and listened to the soft, slow, rhythmic beating of his heart. It was even more calming to her, and her eyes once again began to close.

He spoke the words she could not as her eyes finally closed, "I love you Teru…"

The noise rumbled through his chest, and she snuggled even closer to him, "I love you too Kurosaki!" and with those words, she fell into the deepest and best sleep she had ever gotten.

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I hope y'all enjoyed the newest chapter! I worked really hard in it... and I posted it a day late because I added another thousand word (give or take). The next chapter may not be up until next month because I'm having some friends come up from the new-york city area, and then I have a butt load of Halloween Stuff to do also I got a job (Yay finally some extra cash to buy more manga!)... but I'll try to get my update up ASAP! Remember, more reviews equal faster updates (I write a bit more after every review!) Ummm other than that, I'd just like to ask if any of you would enjoy a Dengeki Daisy Halloween One Shot (Or Collection of Holiday One shots?) So I'd love your thoughts on that!


	10. El Manaña

I'm really sorry this took so long, and I apologize for how bad the chapter is written... I promise the next chapter will be better.

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Everything was bright, artificially bright, not like the sun, not like the moon, not like the stars. It was too bright, it was unnatural, and it was uncomfortable. There was nothing but light, and the consciousness of something pushing her down, something that was unseen. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she couldn't think clearly. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Not a shout, not a shriek, not even the smallest whisper passed her lips. She felt a pain welling up inside her, gnawing at her insides as it slowly worked its way up her body. After a few moments she began choking, whatever it was that was crawling inside her was suffocating her… she felt like she was going to die, she was drowning in the light, and she was going to be asphyxiated by whatever was inside her. Just when she believed she was going to perish, the mysterious force freed itself from the confines of her throat and shot itself from her lips.

The unholy light was gone… the force had extinguished it like a candle, and now the only thing that was left was much more terror inducing… darkness… darkness was all that remained. She could only surmise that the force from her throat had been a demon, a demon of her own creation. The demon had a name, and it was called fear. She could breathe now, she realized as she gulped swallows of stale air. Although she could breathe, try as she might, she still could not move or speak. There was still an invisible force crushing down on her. To her it felt like two large shadow hands had their hold on her. One hand was holding her down, while the other covered her mouth to cause her to be mute. She wished for motion and sound, she wished for something, anything to take the darkness away. But it endured, and after what felt like an eternity, something finally changed.

She felt something drip onto her skin, it was cold and wet. She could barely believe what was happening as it began to rain. She began to hear the pitter patter of raindrops she couldn't see on a ground that she couldn't feel. Whatever bit of her had stayed optimistic, was now cynical… whatever was causing these odd sensations was preying on her anxieties and fears. Her theory was only more so confirmed when the light returned, but not in the consuming unholy way it had before, but now in the form of lightning. She hated storms, and feared lightning, she wished it all would just go away, but hope and pray as hard as she might, it did not end.

She begged for the end, but there would be no solace for her as in the distance she saw a Cheshire smile of dirty disgusting yellow teeth illuminated by lightning. As the teeth got closer, her anxiety reached its peak. She struggled against her invisible bonds, but they would not break. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as like in her previous nightmare, she fell. She strained and shook, and was finally able to let sound escape her mouth.

She screamed aloud, and she kept screaming until she needed to breathe. As she breathed, she felt her back hit something solid. She had broken out in a cold sweat and her heart was beating faster than she could count. She looked upwards and found herself again in darkness, but it was different now. The darkness was not all consuming, only calm, and there was no rain or teeth. She realized that she was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling, and she tried to make sense of what was going on. She yelped in fear when she felt something beside her move.

"Hey…Hey… Shhh….. Everything's alright." He muttered groggily as he reached a hand over to touch her gently. He had been awakened by her sudden shaking and screaming, and despite his utter and total exhausted-ness, he had been worried about her.

She took a moment to catch her breath as everything came back to her. She was at Kurosaki's apartment, and she had wanted him to sleep next to her to make her feel safe. When her breathing and pulse returned to normal, she tried to relax, but she was still on edge. His words consoled her, and his presence calmed her, but she felt the need to move closer to him, if for no other reason than to make sure all of this wasn't just another part of her elaborate dream.

He naturally knew what she needed as she moved closer to him. He pulled her close and allowed her to tuck her head into his chest. He could feel her fear and worry, it was radiating from her like a tangible force. He tried to comfort her as he calmly stroked her back; he wanted to make the pain go away… When she had noticeably calmed down he pulled his face away from her slightly and moved his chin away from its previous post on top of her head. "What happened?" He asked softly, "…Nightmare?"

She nodded and turned to face him. "It was like the last one… but this one had… more in it…", she felt both ashamed and relieved at telling him about her nightmare. While it was a great feeling to get the fear to dissipate, it was still embarrassing that a young lady of her age would have such nightmares.

"More…" he muttered as he readjusted to become more comfortable after her switching of positions. "What do you mean by more?"

"Well… there was a bright light… it was blinding… it hurt my eyes. Then later, there was darkness… and rain, you know how I hate the rain." She spoke pensively trying to recover important details he would have wanted, but the dream was to her relief, already becoming forgotten. She was unsure why she was losing the nightmare-memory, but she theorized that the proximity of her and him caused her mind to blur. She didn't mind forgetting, and she also didn't mind his closeness.

He nodded at her description and smiled a little, "Teru… it started to rain part way through the night… I turned on the light and walked around quick to make sure all of my windows were closed. They were, and shut off the light and laid back down… the storm got worse, but then it passed. I guess it had to have been a good twenty or thirty minutes after it passed that you woke me up with your screaming…"

She blushed slightly, embarrassed that she had woken him out with her shouting. "I'm sorry for waking you up…" she said putting her head down so as not to meet his eyes.

"You don't have to be sorry…" he said softly as he touched her cheek, "I just worry about you sometimes…" What he said was true. He was extremely worried about her and her nightmares, he blamed this one partially on her sub-conscious mind perceiving the storm, but for the other, there could be no avoiding of blame. The other nightmare had come directly from her mind, and he couldn't save her from her own thoughts… but at the very least he could try.

He sat up and stretched, and she sat up after he did. They both rolled out of bed, him yawning, her quiet as death.

She followed him, still not speaking, out into the dining room. The silence was almost painful to her; it was so awkward and unnatural that she felt the need to speak. She had no idea of what she could say, and she defiantly didn't want to say the wrong thing. She almost sighed in relief when he spoke first.

"Hungry?" he asked her as he walked towards the kitchen. His single word broke the awkward silence, now he left it up to her to reply.

"Yeah… a little…" she said following him closely. "Are you?" she asked conversationally.

"I'm always in the mood for food…" he said with a laugh as he opened his fridge. It was as usual very empty, but luckily he had eggs, cheese, and a few other breakfast ingredients.

Their short conversational snippets had done wonders for the mood of the setting, and now they were feeling far more comfortable.

As he pulled the ingredients from the fridge, he was shocked to hear the words she spoke.

"Let me cook!" She said with a smile as she grabbed on to the carton of eggs he was holding. She wanted to do something for him, and if she could do anything, it was cook. She'd done it for him before, and she knew where he kept his very few cooking utensils.

He looked at her for a moment in shock, but then regained thought process. "No, you're my guest..."

She cut him off, "It's the least I can do." She smiled, feeling good to do something for him instead of the usual him doing everything for her.

"Well I suppose it is what your job is… my pretty little slave girl… So, what are you feeding me?" He laughed silently and internally, glad that if even just for the moment things felt like normal.

"Really?" she asked with a chuckle. She was still unsure why exactly she was his slave. She wasn't complaining, she actually liked it, but she would never admit that to him. "Go bald Kurosaki."

He smiled, "If I ever go bald, it will be your fault!" He couldn't help but be a little worried about the possibility of losing his hair. Although he had good genetics, and knew that the men of his family never really lost all of their hair, he felt as though if she hoped and wished enough for his baldness, it would happen.

"Maybe you'd look good bald." She said teasing him as started cracking eggs into a bowl. She was thoroughly enjoying tormenting him. She cracked a few more eggs into the bowl and broke their yolks with a fork. She stirred them together and went over to the stove to heat up a frying pan.

He tried to act normally and pretend he hadn't heard what she had said. He sat down at the table and picked up the paper and a pen that had been lying there. He skimmed the paper, read the comics, and attempted a Sudoku puzzle. He was about half way done with his puzzle when she walked out of the kitchen. She was smiling, she was proud of her cooking, and it showed when she set it down in front of him.

"Omelets?" He asked with a smile, unable to remember the last time he had eaten a breakfast that had been actually cooked, not one that had just been reheated or prepackaged.

"Yes, omelets." She replied with a chuckle. She wished he could have seen the amazed look on his face, it was simply priceless. She looked down at the Sudoku puzzle that he had been working on, and immediately saw at least three blank boxes that she knew the numbers for. She smiled wondering whether or not to show off. Deciding to show off, but only a little, she pointed to a box in the bottom left corner. "Five." She said as she walked into the kitchen to grab drinks.

"Five?" He shouted inquisitively after her. He wasn't exactly sure of what had just happened, but he was pretty sure she had just given him the answer to one of the numbers in his puzzle.

She returned with a glass of water for herself and a cup of coffee for him. "Five." Was her only response as she sat down across from him and started to eat her breakfast.

"Where?" he asked completely and totally confused. Unsure of how she could have found the location of a number so quickly.

"There…" she said pointing to the same box she had before. Pointing to another she said, "Three." Then pointing to one more she said, "Nine."

He watched in awe as she pointed to boxes, but was quick to point out the mistake on her final number prediction. "That's not possible…" he said as he pointed to the box next to the one that she had pointed to, "This one is nine."

She smiled and laughed at the same time, "Oh trust me… it's possible." She waited for the confused look to return again to his face, then traced along two columns with her fingers. "It's possible because you were wrong."

"There's no way…" he muttered as he picked up the paper to see what she was talking about. He was amazed when he saw that what she had said was in fact true… he had put the nine in the wrong box. "Well…" he said as he quickly tried to make up an excuse, "I umm… wasn't wearing my glasses…"

She laughed at his "reason" and proceeded to say, "Go bald, Kurosaki." Though she said it, she secretly hoped for his and her sake that he would never go bald. On his part, he would be inconsolable, and if he did, he might seek revenge upon her for cursing him.

He tried to stifle a laugh that was threatening to escape and retorted, "If I end up bald, it will be your fault…" He tried to look menacing, but it wasn't working.

She giggled and in a sing-song voice she sang, "Go bald, go bald, go bald Kurosaki!"

"That's it…" he said as he stood up and pushed his chai back, "You're going to pay for this…" He smiled playfully as he said it.

"Eeek!" she shouted as she pushed he own chair back and jumped off running. She laughed as she ran away from him; she was having fun "playing games", and the adrenaline was giving her a high of euphoria that was much needed.

He ran after her and chased her all the way into his room. He had her cornered, her only chance of escape was to try to sneak past him, which she tried, and failed.

She tried to jump out and away from him, but just ended up being caught by him on his bed. She laughed as he held her. She tried to wriggle out of his grip, but it was to no avail, eventually she stopped trying to free herself, and he let go.

He smiled down at her, "I caught you!" he said with a bit of a laugh, feeling like a child again, but when he looked down at her again, he no longer felt like a child. He realized exactly how… interesting… his position over her was. He was on top of her, and as he watched her catch her breath, very adult thoughts came over him. He tried to snap himself out of it, but couldn't distract himself from the way she was breathing, and the pale blush on her cheeks. She was always beautiful in his eyes, but at the moment, she was not just beautiful, but was beautiful and sexy.

She noticed the pensive, thoughtful look in his eyes and raised an eyebrow. She wondered what he was thinking about, but thought it better not to ask. Instead she brought up the one thing she knew could catch the attention of any man, food. "Are we going to finish breakfast?" She asked hoping he would snap out of it.

"Huh?" he said waking up from his trance-like state. He had seen her lips move, but had been too lost in his own thoughts to have heard what she said.

"I said, 'Are we going to finish breakfast?'" she repeated and raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what exactly had spaced him out so badly.

"Yeah…" he said pushing off from the bed and helping her up also. He smiled at her, sometimes she was just a little bit too perfect.

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Again, really sorry for the shitty chapter XD


	11. Interlude

I'm honestly loosing my mind trying to write this lately! I'm running out of inspiration on it, and i feel really bad about dragging you all along. I tried hard to type something, anything, and this is all I could come up with... I hope its okay, I apologize for the long time between updates :(

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They ate breakfast in the relative quiet of his small dining room, she was an extraordinary cook, and in his mind, her breakfast even rivaled that of the masters. Of course he would never tell either of them that, but still, it was definitely a close call as to whose was better. He savored every bite of his omelet, and was surprised that he even had enough food to cook with in his house. He was a man in all sense of the word, if it wasn't for the fact that he passed the grocery store on his way home from work, he would probably never remember to buy groceries. It was bad enough that when he did go shopping, he rarely bought anything except the bare necessities and food that could be microwaved. As of late he had been on an instant ramen kick, and he knew for a fact that at the moment it was the only thing in his cupboard… That fact reminded him of two things, that one: he would have to go shopping, and that two: he wanted to take her out for lunch today.

He had made a decision last night that he would make this weekend everything she could ever want. He wanted her to be happy and unafraid. He wanted to see a happy smile on her face even if it was just for the short weekend. He wanted to give her the world, and decided that he would give her everything her could. He would tease her and prod her as usual of course, but at the same time he would be the man she needed… he would be her daisy.

"That was pretty good." He said with a light smile as he set down his fork. He had entirely cleared his plate, and was happy she decided to make breakfast. While he himself was a pretty good cook, he hated doing it, and though he would never admit it, she was definitely the better chef.

Teru was also finished with her meal and let out a contented sigh. "I'm glad you liked it. I would have offered to make something else, but you had a pretty limited selection of foods in your fridge…" She finished her statement with a light laugh, remembering the last time she had stayed in his home. She had by now figured out that Kurosaki rarely went shopping and even more rarely bought food that actually needed to be cooked. Knowing him, she guessed that there were plenty of TV dinners stored up in his freezer.

Kurosaki almost retorted that he hadn't been expecting guests, but thinking before he spoke, he decided it was in both of their best interests to keep the mood light. Wordlessly he stood up and grabbed her empty plate and silverware along with his own and brought it into the kitchen. He would quickly do the dishes, and then he would return to her to ask her what she wanted to do today. He was going to treat her like a princess of sorts… he was going to make her happy, and he was going to try to do it in the way he knew her brother would have… by being kind, loving, and goofy if he could bring himself to try it.

He heard her walk in behind him, "Let me do the dishes!" she said as she walked over to him and the fresh sudsy water in the sink.

"Don't worry about it go and watch TV." He replied back to her, but it was already too late, she had made her mind up to washing dishes and she was going to do it if it killed her. He felt her shove in next to him as she put her hands in the water. She was so damn stubborn sometimes that there was little he could do but comply.

As much as he wanted to tell her to sit down, he had to admit that it would be finished much faster with both of them working. They scrubbed the dishes together in silence. Their lack of speech wasn't awkward; it was more of a comforting calm. Just washing dishes, as silly as it was, seemed to make things feel a little more normal than they had been yesterday. Kurosaki knew that it would take things a long time to truly return to normal, but the fact that she seemed to be standing a little taller when she was around him meant that she seemed to feel safe… at least for the moment.

Once every dish was scrubbed, rinsed, dried, and put away neater than they ever had been, they went into the living room. Teru then took him up on his original offer and sat on the couch to watch television. He sat next to her and gently laid a hand on her shoulder, they had both been through so much in the last few days that it truly felt like years since they could just relax without tension or strain. Just having a few moments to themselves on the couch was a blessing in itself.

He tried not to think of what this all might mean in the future, but he couldn't help himself. It obviously meant that if he ever dated her that he would have to take things slow with her, but he honestly didn't care, he loved her and that was all there was to do about it… He was more concerned on what kind of mark this would leave on her… not physically… most of her physical wounds would heal and fade away forever. No, he was more worried about the mental scarring and torture she would have to endure. He gently combed her hair through his fingers as he thought about it to himself. If the man was caught, there would have to be a trial, at which Teru would have to be present. He didn't want her to have to face that man ever again, but the alternative frightened him even more. If he wasn't caught soon, or never would be caught, Teru would be forced to live in world of Paranoia and fear. Plus there was nothing that said that he wouldn't come back to finish what he started or whether Kurosaki would be there to save her the second time… There were just too many variables for comfort, so when he dropped her hair and pulled her closer to him, he did it more for himself than for her.

Teru did not object to his holding her close, in actuality she found that the most comfortable place for her was in his arms. She had always loved Kurosaki… he was her daisy… he was her strength… he was her protector, and she owed him more than she would ever be able to pay back. Her only consolation to that point was that she believed deep down he loved her as much as she loved him… he had held her, kissed her, and confessed to her… so it left little doubt in her mind of their shared love.

"What do you want to do today?" He asked softly, now once again playing with her hair.

"Whatever you want to do.", she answered honestly. All she wanted to do today was be by his side, it didn't matter to her where they went or what they did, as long as he was in arms reach, she was happy.

"It's your choice." He said with a smile, she was always so easy to please, but today was her day to choose.

"Surprise Me." She said impishly.

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I know this was really bad, but please Review and tell me what was good/bad. I really want to get back into writing this again, but I need some help and suggestions! Thanks to all my amazing readers who have put up wit me for so long! You're all amazing!


	12. Somebody's Watching Me

I'd like to thank y'all for all the reviews and for keeping up with my story in general. Its become a bit of a "What If" story now with the new updates and everything, but I promise that when this is finished I'll write a oneshot that is more caught up! Thanks again, and please enjoy the new chapter!

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"The market?" She said with a laugh, it wasn't where she had expected to go with him, but honestly she was unsure of what to expect at all with the fact that she had told him to "surprise her". She had guessed that he would have brought her someplace else, to a movie, to the amusement park, to the zoo, to Ohanabatake, or even to the school to get work done. However she never guessed that he would bring her to the local farmers and artisans market.

"Yeah, I figured since you're staying awhile…well I guess I need to shop for two now… unless you like frozen dinners and instant ramen?" He asked knowing that she wouldn't say anything against the easy foods simply because she didn't want to feel like a bother. That's just the way she was, always being kind to everyone, and never wanting to inconvenience anyone.

Sure enough, after a moment she replied, "Oh, I'll eat anything, whatever you like is fine with me."

He chuckled lightly to himself, he knew Teru, and he knew exactly how she would respond to his questions… at least most of the time… He couldn't truly say that he knew how she would react all the time or what was always going on in her head, because for as predictable as she usually was… sometimes she was simply a wild card whom no one would ever be able to understand. He loved her for that, because he too liked a little spontaneity every now and then.

"Well I hate that premade stuff…" he said with another laugh, "I'm just usually too lazy or too busy to cook, but now that my slave is a live in, I don't have to worry about that right?"

He expected to hear the immediate reaction of, "Go Bald Kurosaki", or at the very least a "Shut up." Instead he received no reaction or response… not a single word. Worried, he looked to the right to see no Teru, even though she had been walking there just moments ago. He looked forward and to his left seeing absolutely no trace of her until he turned around and caught sight of her. She was standing a few yards behind him standing completely still.

They were both currently in a busy street market filled with vendors and people buying and selling things at an alarming rate. There was very rarely anyone who was not in motion, but there stood Teru still as a cement wall and twice as pale. She looked like she had just seen a ghost; her eyes were wide with fear, her face white and gaunt, and nothing that happened around her seemed to change her current state.

He rushed to her side and grabbed her shoulder, "Teru, what's wrong?" he asked anxiously. He was in shock, because she too was in shock. She was usually the kind of person who just bounced back and didn't worry about anything… seeing her look so fearful brought him back to the day before… a memory he wasn't so ready to relive.

"I think… I think I saw him… he's here…he's here and he's going to get me! He's going to kill me! He's going to Kill Me!" She started out quietly, but she got louder and more anxious on each word. She was beginning to attract a lot of attention and cause a scene.

He hadn't thought about the repercussions of bringing her to such a crowded place, she was obviously still extremely uneasy and frightened, and now seemingly paranoid. Of course it wasn't truly paranoia when people were actually out to get you, but he doubted that she had actually seen her attacker in the crowd.

She continued yelling until she broke down into hysterics. She was wailing so loudly that people were watching, whispering, and full out talking about her, and of course him too.

He knew that he had to calm her down, and at the time he didn't think, he just acted. He pulled her towards him and held her tight while moving his lips on to hers with a kiss he hoped would snap her out of her "daymare". He kissed her long and steady in a loving reassurance that she would be alright. He held her snug to him until she slackened in his grip.

She relaxed in his arms, he made everything okay. She was still fearful of what she had just seen, but in his arms she felt secure. She had seen him, she really had. He had been around the corner watching her with his yellowed teeth formed into a full grin. When she had turned back to get a better look at him, he was gone… meshed into the crowd. She knew he was gone, but still here… it made no sense, but it was true. She felt like she was being watched, but she choked down the rising hysteria.

As she relaxed into his arms, he loosened his grip on her, she seemed to be calmer now, and he knew that he needed to get her out of there before something else bad happened. He whispered softly in her ear, "Let's go somewhere else… someplace a little less busy and a little quieter." He wanted to finish shopping with her, but that could be done later in a supermarket, for now he decided he needed to bring her somewhere calm and quiet. He knew just the place, but wasn't sure how she would feel about going there. He tried not to think about it or worry too much about it, but he couldn't help himself… she was so fragile at the moment, and all he wanted was to bring her some place to give her a little peace.

She nodded lightly, attacker or no attacker; she needed to get out of this crowded street as quickly as possible. She was feeling paranoid, claustrophobic, and all-in-all uncomfortable being in such a public place. She felt a little better when Kurosaki grabbed her hand and walked with her back to his car, but all the while, she felt like she was still being watched. She saw him around every corner and in every shadow space. She couldn't help but wonder while he helped her into the car if her earlier panic attack had been triggered by truly seeing him, or just by a paranoid hallucination.

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Hope you enjoyed the new chapter! I worked hard to get it ready ASAP! Please Review!


	13. Sinner's Prayer

Sorry this took so long, but with track and everything I didn't really have time to type... getting into finals week and then regents after that, but expect new chapters this summer. Its kind of sad for me to have to tell you all this, but Seeing You Smile will soon be coming to its conclusion. I thank all of you who have stood by me from the very beginning and who can't wait to find out how it all ends. I really appreciate all the love and support I've gotten for this story :)

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By the time Teru truly came to her senses, they were quite far away from the market. She had apparently climbed into the car with him and buckled herself in without her knowledge. She supposed it was just the shock and fear causing her to be off, and in this case, forgetful. She tried to remember getting into the car and driving off, her but automaton mind hadn't allowed her to do so. She thought for a second about how screwed up her mind and memory had been since the attack, but after a few minutes she shooed away the thoughts. She didn't want to think about that now when there were so many more important things to be worried about.

Blaming her bad memory and odd behavior on shock and her concussion, she thought about other things that were pressing on her mind. Where were they going? Had he even mentioned it? Had he told her when she wasn't paying attention? She knew better than to try and remember this time, so instead she just sat and looked at him across the space between their seats.

There was so much conflict on his face that she swore she could feel it radiate from him. She was curious as to why he was so worried, but she knew there was little she could do without asking him what was wrong. She definitely did not want to ask him what was wrong, because she knew better than to try to break the silence.

Usually when there was silence between them, it was comfortable because they were relaxed around each other. The current silence was not like that at all. It was uncomfortable, edgy, and not at ease. They both seemed weary at what was going to happen next. They seemed to worry that the reaction of the other would be unsavory and undesired to whatever was going to happen next. Neither knew how to break this awkwardness between them, so they continued on in silence… absolute and total silence to the point where one could hear a pin drop.

It continued in this way until Kurosaki suddenly hit the brakes and pushed Teru back into the seat like his arm could protect her from any danger. Teru squealed almost as loud as the tires, she hadn't been prepared for the sudden halt, and it showed. He shouted to her after the car stopped asking to know if she was okay. He pretty much leaped at her looking to make sure she was okay.

"I'm fine." She said, still shocked at the sudden jerking stop. "Why did we stop?" she asked while watching him sit back down completely in his own seat. He didn't answer right away, instead he pointed ahead of him, gesturing for her to look at what could only be described as a road block.

It wasn't just any roadblock either. It was what seemed to be a police roadblock with two cars and quite a few officers standing about. It seemed like it was a check point, but a check point for what was his question. She nodded to him in acknowledgement, but she was every bit as curious as he was as to why a police roadblock/checkpoint was set up on the road ahead.

Ready to feed both of their curiosities, he pulled the vehicle forward up to the block where two officers approached the car. They both looked like your everyday normal highway policemen, wearing their uniforms, badges, hats, boots, and packing heat on their belts, but there was something about them that made Teru nervous. It wasn't anything about the way they looked or anything about what they said, no, it was instead the way they carried themselves that told her that something was off. They moved about with caution… not normal run of the mill, dangerous job caution, but with too much caution, like they were afraid of something… She did not like to think about what would have two grown male police officers scared… She did not want to know what frightened the men of the law who legally carried around guns.

As they came to a stop, Kurosaki rolled down his window and poked his head out of the car, he acted with complete and total calm, acting like things like this happened every day and that they were nothing to worry about. "Is there a problem officer?" He asked one of the approaching policemen. His voice was level, and did not denote any of the curiosity that Teru knew he currently felt.

The officer, reaching the car stopped and peered inside, he looked at Kurosaki and Teru over the tops of his sunglasses superiorly and said, "There's suspicious activity in the area." The man was obviously trying to cover up his own unease by use of overly masculine and overly bossy actions, but Teru and Kurosaki said nothing on the matter and waited for the officer to continue. "We received a call that a man suspiciously close in appearance to a criminal at large was seen in the area… about less than a mile up the road in the market district. We have officers on the scene, and others posted about the area in case he tries to make a break for it… We found one dead officer close to the area in which he was suspected of hiding… but this man is not only a cop killer, he is also accused of attempted rape and assault…"

A female officer then approached the car and waved the other officer off saying something like along the lines of let them go on ahead. As the male officer walked away, the woman gave the two a light smile and said, "You two can go on ahead now, have a nice day." She looked from Teru to Kurosaki and added, "Keep an eye out for trouble, protect your girlfriend… you never know what these psychopaths can do."

Kurosaki nodded at the officer's advice, not mentioning that they were not boyfriend and girlfriend, and thanked the woman for her advice. As they pulled away and back on the road to their unknown location, he reached a hand over to touch hers lightly. He knew that there were bad thoughts, scary thoughts going through her mind… a cop had been killed, she'd nearly been raped, and the bastard behind both attacks had been watching her in the market. He knew she was upset and that she was probably going to cry, but he was a man on a mission, it was now or never and she needed to know… He took the turn and heard her softly begin to sob and cry. He held her hand a bit tighter in his and ran his thumb over her knuckles… he wanted to comfort her… he needed to comfort her, but what he was about to do would only upset her more, so he did all he could to calm her before he had to do what had been inevitable from the start… he was about to tell her that he was Daisy… all he needed to do was get to the right spot first.

Tears streamed down from her eyes and streaked her face, the man who had attacked her was a killer, and he had been watching her from the shadows of the market. She felt so afraid, and had never been gladder to have Kurosaki's hand in hers. He was calming her slightly, and though it was hard to see how much it was helping her, it was honestly the only thing keeping her sane at the moment. She was afraid, and yet she wondered where they were going, she wanted to ask, but she didn't at the same time. Her mind was a mass of contradictions, and she had no idea how to think straight.

Then, she realized where they were going… it was a place familiar to her, a place she visited time after time… a place of comfort and a place of sadness… a place she had always wanted to go with Kurosaki. They were heading up the winding road that led to the final resting place of the souls of her family; they were going to the cemetery where they had buried her brother years before. Her tears suddenly stopped, she wasn't done being upset or scared, but the tears had just stopped flowing. It was like there were no tears left to flow, or like something had stopped them before they could well up in her eyes. She wondered why he was taking her here, why after all the pain and suffering the attack had brought her, he would bring her to a place where she could remember the fact that she was alone in the world… She knew that it was not his reason, yet she suddenly felt so cynical… so depressed, ad so far gone from her usual happy cheerful self that she was just a shell of her true being.

She tried to focus on something else… the sound of the car's motor or the wheels rolling on the pavement, how it felt to have Kurosaki's hand in hers, and what it felt like for his thumb to run over her knuckles. It calmed her slightly and took the pain away from her thoughts for a few moments. She tried hard to focus on other things that made her happy, other things that would give her the strength to do what was about to happen, and so she did. She thought about her friends, about tea with Riko, and about the way the sun had felt on her back at the beach. She thought about the kisses she had gotten from Kurosaki and about Kurosaki in general. She thought about his blonde hair, about the way he hummed, and about the way he was so tenderly holding her hand. She then trusted him with her world, whatever happened next, she trusted his judgment. She thought about her favorite manga and how silly her brother used to act to cheer her up… she thought about him watching over her from heaven and how he had left her Daisy to care for her… and suddenly everything was alright again… she was still afraid, very very afraid, but there was something about all the good in her life that made her feel invincible. She was strong and all the things that had happened to her recently and in the past could only make her stronger.

As the car stopped, she squeezed Kurosaki's hand tighter and knew that whatever happened next would change her life, for better or for worse… Kurosaki had something to tell her… she sensed it, and she was unafraid, she would be strong for him… for Riko and all the others she would be strong… for her brother she would be strong and for her daisy, she would be the strongest girl ever born.

She released Kurosaki's hand and stepped out of the car, knowing where to go, she knew he would follow. If strength was measured in words, cowards would be a giant, which is why strength was measured in actions… Despots spoke, but those strong enough to rule without fear tactics or fancy lies stood tall and acted in place of words. She would be the Queen of strength today as she stood in front of her brother's grave, and Kurosaki would be her King… God save the poor man who had attacked her because if they and their bond survived what happened next, they would be the world's most formidable duo.

Kurosaki, standing now with Teru in front of the grave of his departed friend and her brother, reached out for her hands. He held them with a strength that he did not know he had, and kneeled down on one knee before her like one would do to propose. He was unsure of why he did this, but at the moment it just felt like the right thing to do. Before he could even think of what to say to her, words came from his mouth… no fancy lies, only the truth… the honest to god truth that they both needed.

"Teru, you may not understand this fully now, but you need to know. I'm the reason your brother is here right now. I am your Daisy, and I am a sinner."

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Thanks for reading, sorry if it came out a tad jumpy, I was working hard and it was late. Please review :)


	14. Tell Me Where It Hurts

Teru knew that those words would come one day, she had known since the incident with the music box that Kurosaki was her Daisy, but to hear it come out of his mouth was something different. She had wanted it to be him so badly, and now her wish had come true, but what of him being a sinner? What of him stating that he was the cause of her brother's death. She could believe the part about him being a sinner, he was a world renowned hacker and as such sinning was a mandatory part of work. Sins didn't make her love him any less, nor did they change her opinions about him. Sins or no, he was still the delinquent janitor that she had fallen so madly in love with. However… the cause of her brother's death? She could not and would not believe that he was the sole cause of Soichiro's death, after all he had died of cancer and it was not the type of thing one could give another or cause another to have. Unless Kurosaki was putting small amounts of plutonium into Soichiro's coffee every morning, there was no possible way that he was the cause of his death. Teru knelt down to the same level as Kurosaki so that they were eye to eye and she squeezed him hands lightly, encouragingly before she spoke. "I'm glad you're Daisy…" She whispered softly and reassuringly. For the first time in the last couple days, she felt in control, confident, and over all capable of helping Kurosaki the way he helped her.

He looked at Teru, his Teru, and was suddenly so unsure of what to do. He had expected her rejection, her hatred, and her anger for all his lies, but there was none of that… instead she had comforted him and encouraged him. She hadn't given him forgiveness, which he thanked her for silently. There was no forgiveness for what he had done in his life so far, there was no forgiveness at all for a thing like that… only acceptance and encouragement that the future will be far better than the past. Tears began to form in his eyes, he was unsure of who he was right now… was he Kurosaki that janitor who treated Teru like a slave, was he Kurosaki the lover who wanted Teru more than he wanted air to breathe, was he Daisy who was sweet and honest to Teru, or was he the side of Daisy that was lying to Teru since the first text on a rainy day? He felt so conflicted, like there were many different men inside of him just dying to get out, dying to be heard, dying to make Teru their own… He wondered how and if, with such a fragmented heart and soul, he would ever be able to bring all of her personalities back together and just be Tasuku Kurosaki again. Tears began to run down his face. Who would have guessed that all those years with Soichiro and the years after during which he watched after Teru, would boil down to this moment…. The question was rhetorical, but even in his mind; he knew who knew… it was Soichiro himself… that was why he had set this path for him. It was like he was trying to care for both Kurosaki and Teru from beyond the grave by putting them together. It was as if he had known all along that this was how Daisy would end, with healing for Teru and with closure for Kurosaki. Now he felt as though he should ask the man himself for what to do next, since he had planned it all out so well…

Merely by chance, just as Kurosaki had the thought of what to do next, he caught a quick glance at something out of the corner of him eye. There were still tears flowing down his cheeks, so it could have been just a blur, but no… after taking another look he realized that he really had seen what he thought he had… near the corner of his friend's memorial, he saw a small flower just beginning to grow. It was small and extremely out of place, but he took it as the sign he needed. Kurosaki opened his mouth and told Teru everything he thought was important and even things he knew weren't important at all. He told her his life's story in the shortest way possible, he told her of his time as a hacker, the creation of his sin, the kindness of Soichiro and Team Kurosaki, the Jack of Frost Virus, the creation of daisy and her brother's death. He told her everything and anything he could think to tell her. Even the silly little things like her brother's incessant humming were included in his story that had them both laughing, crying, and generally sharing a trust that they had yet to do.

It was odd in a way how they trusted each other with the other's lives for so long, but didn't trust each other with the other's secret. It felt good to get everything and anything "Daisy" off both of their chests and to forget, just for a little while about the painful things that were awaiting them back home.

Kurosaki let go of her hands, he didn't want to, but he needed to wipe away the tears that had rolled down his cheeks. As he released her hands, she did the same and turned to the grave of her beloved brother. It was like a tremendous weight was lifted off of them both and that for the first time in a long time they could breathe and just spend a little time close to the man they had both been so very close to. It was nice that for the first time ever, they had come to visit him together.

He had so many questions that he wanted to ask his friend and mentor if he were still here, but he was not. He wanted to know if he was doing the right thing, if Soichiro really would have approved of their being together. Of course he had always said that he wanted him to meet Teru and on his death bed he had thrust them together, but did he really know that they would be like… this? He wondered also if he were handling things correctly with the attack… should he have done more? Less? It was all so very confusing. He supposed he could ask all the questions he wanted, but would never receive the answers until he too was dead and gone…. Gone, but not forgotten, that's what Soichiro was. Someday Kurosaki hoped that people would remember him as fondly as they remembered his dearly departed friend. He hoped that someway, somehow, he would be able to repent his sins and go to the same bright, heavenly place that he was so sure Soichiro had gone to. Kurosaki was not a religious man, nor did he pretend to be, but he had a feeling that there had to be a place better than this to go after you had served your purpose. After the death of his father, he had started to think about life after death, and the death of his dearest and closest friend had only solidified his beliefs.

He then looked back to Teru who had her hand now rested gently against her brother's monument. It was obvious that she too was doing some soul searching and questioning to see if she was doing things right. He couldn't help but smile lightly at her, she had been through so much lately, but here she was still by his side. He had just dropped perhaps his darkest and deepest secrets on her, but she seemed to have no urge to run away or leave him. If anything, she seemed more at peace with him and their life than she had previously. He had a feeling that she already knew about his being Daisy, but had never really asked other than perhaps once or twice mockingly.

They were both still kneeling on the ground, so he moved over to a spot behind her and reached his arms around her. It felt right to do so, and now with everything off his chest, he felt more comfortable to do so. "How long did you know?" he asked curiously, unsure of whether or not the question would be too much too soon.

She didn't seem to acknowledge his question for a few silent moments. Instead of answering straight away, she moved the hand that was not on her brother's memorial to touch lightly on the bicep of one of his arms that was encircling her lovingly and protectively. They were both still extremely vulnerable at this point, so there was no use in rushing anything… they had all day to talk. For a moment, she just wanted to sit with her brother and her protector, and just be… she didn't want to think of too much, and she didn't want to think of the pain she was still feeling from the light bruises on her body… to think of such a thing would be to think of what was awaiting her at home… something she definitely did not want to think too much about.

Finally after a few passing minutes of thought and very little eventfulness, she spoke, clearly and softly for him to hear. "I had my suspicions for a long time… I'm not sure when they started, it was just that I wanted you to be the one…" She paused to take a deep breath, "After all, I was falling in love with you and if you weren't Daisy… it would be like I was torn between two men I loved…"

He knew deep in his heart that she had fallen in love with him, and he had also known that she had fallen in love with Daisy, but he could scarcely wonder how much stress it had put her through to have to wonder so much about what she would do if she had to choose between her two loves. It was strange because she seemed to love Daisy as a friend, while he as daisy had loved her as something to protect and cherish… more like a lover than just a friend. What made things even stranger was the fact that she had fallen in love with the Delinquent janitor side of him that only caused her confusion and was sweet and rude at such different intervals that he must have seemed bipolar. "Who would you have chosen… if you had to choose?" He asked unsure of what he wanted her to say. In all honesty they were both sides of him, and to choose one over the other… he was unsure of which he wanted her to want more… Of course daisy would have been better for her emotionally, but he liked to think that in situations where it was he, not daisy, that saved her, he had acted well and had taken good care of her. For example, her most recent need of assistance had been him rather than Daisy and while he was unsure if he had done the right thing completely, he had saved her and was continuing to care for her in the best way he possibly could.

She thought over the question, she had asked herself the very same thing many many times before she knew that she would not have to choose… It was after all, the impossible choice. To choose the man that saved you many times from the shadows, the one who was faceless to you and spoke through texts, or the man who was near to you, the one who was rude sometimes, but other times sweet… the one who had also saved you numerous times… it was a hard decision to make at best, and at the worst… as previously stated, impossible. Even now looking through the glass, seeing only the reflection of the same unsure past, she could not come up with a decision. "I don't honestly know who I would have chosen." She said truthfully, "I'm glad I didn't have to choose." After saying that, she removed her hand from her brother's stone and moved her legs so that she was sitting down in front of him rather than kneeling. Her knees had gotten weak, and she felt far more comfortable sitting, leaning back on him.

He was happy with the answer her was given and relaxed himself slightly. He was glad that she couldn't choose, because as different as they were, they were both parts of him, parts of who he was, and parts of who he would be for her from now on. He made a silent promise that he would never again hide his love and care for her into text messages and shadowy actions, never again would he not be there for her when she needed him most, and he swore that no matter what, he would always be her Daisy… if she still wanted him that way… He knew one thing for sure though… he could no longer text her as Daisy. It would be just too weird to receive texts that were not for him now the she knew about who he was.

"But I found out for sure that night after coming home from the beach… the night with the big storm…" She said this softly, and pulled his attention back. "The music box that I had given Riko to give daisy… it flipped open and played… I closed it before you got back, but from then on… I knew…"

He couldn't believe that she had known for so long that he was daisy and because of this he asked more and more questions until she had answered all his and started asking questions of her own. It was odd in some respects that all of this was happening at a grave, but at the same time, it felt oddly… right. It seemed only proper to do all their catching up near the person who had planned this out from the start. They talked, sat, and didn't talk for hours and hours on end. They were so caught up in each other that neither had realized how much time had passed until it was beginning to get dark out. They must have spent twelve plus hours together and if the darkness wasn't enough to make them get up and go, the rumbling in their stomachs was.


	15. Fade Away

Teru was obviously extremely tired by the time they got to the car and it was showing. Her eyes were fluttering shut, and as hungry as she was, it was nothing compared to how much she needed sleep. She could simply not get enough sleep as of late. She slept for hours and hours, but no matter what, she always seemed to be tired. She supposed it was the stress, wacky weather, and crazy changes that were causing her to need so much rest, and combined with the nightmares she'd been having, she felt as though there was a force of nature that just did not want her to be rested.

It was dark out when they left the cemetery and made their way back into town. The night though, was bright with a starry sky that was visible even above the streetlights of the city. It was a comfortably cool night, as was par for the beginnings of summer. Teru, drowsy, but thoughtful, was curious as to how her daisies were doing. She wondered whether or not they survived the storm and whether they, or any of the other plants had been hurt by the heavy rains they had had. Some of the flowers at the cemetery had been completely destroyed by high winds and heavy raindrops, but Teru was of course, curious as to how her own plants had been doing. She had a feeling that she wouldn't be returning to school to check and see. She had deduced this from the fact that he told her not to even think about school, and the fact that he himself had taken the last two weeks off to presumably take an early vacation.

She would not be finishing off the last couple weeks of school. Usually for her, an honor student who needed to keep up her grades to continue being a scholarship student, this would be extremely distressing. For some reason, though, it didn't bother her as much as it should. She would just take her vacation early, she was already pretty much done in her classes and all they were doing was test prep. She was sure if she studied diligently that she could get herself ready for all her exams, go into school to take them, and come out of it all with her usual high marks. All of her books save a couple were in her bag at Kurosaki's, and the ones that were not at his place were at the school and could probably be picked up by Riko. Somehow, she would make this all work out.

After reentering the city, Kurosaki yawned, it was nine pm. It was crazy how fast time had flown. "Want to stop and get something to eat?" He really didn't feel like cooking, and he knew that she would be far too tired to. "My treat."

She looked up at him and nodded, it was nine at night and the only places that would probably be open would be fast food places or chain restaurants. She usually wasn't a fan of these types of places, but she was so hungry, she would eat anything. She was surprised, however when she realized where he was taking her. "Ohanabatake?" She asked curiously. She had no idea that the flower garden was open so late, and though she was always happy to see the Master, she was unsure if it was right to bother him.

"Yeah." He said as he parked the car and ran his hand through his hair. "He's actually not open this late. He usually closes at eight thirty… but he's almost always here and sometimes I stop in late to have Dinner with him."

"Oh…" was all she could say before he was on her side of the car, opening the door and offering her a hand. Sometimes he was such a gentleman and sometimes he was rude, he was a master of emotional whiplash, but since the attack had happened he had been extremely kind to her. It felt a little odd, but she supposed that he was just trying to help her feel better. They knew that they were in love, so maybe he was just done hiding his feelings now. She liked that thought; maybe they could finally just be together without any secrets or fear. She couldn't wait until the mess she was currently caught up in was over. When it was finally over and done, maybe she would be able to go places with him without fear.

They entered the flower garden to see the master sitting on one of the bar chairs looking up at a TV. "We're closed…" he said without turning around to see who was there. He seemed to be glued to something on the TV, something that he seemed unable to turn away from.

Kurosaki spoke, "We're not customers…we're company." He saw the way that he was glued to the television and couldn't help but walk over and ask, "What are you watching on that thing…"

Master Masuda turned around to see Kurosaki and Teru standing there. He gestured for them to come over and take a seat next to him, then returned his attention to the television without a word. He instead, turned up the volume and let the pretty news anchorwoman speak for him.

"Suspected rapist and murderer, Akito Kumajiro was apprehended after a four hour standoff with police outside an apartment complex near the street market where he was reportedly seen. A police spokesperson was quoted as saying, 'He has attacked women before, most recently an attempted rape on a young woman. He also killed one of our own, and that is something our department never takes lightly. I can promise that if he is convicted of his crimes, he will be punished to the highest extent of the law.' He is currently being held in the downtown police station and will be there until a trial date is set… Back to you Yuki."

Teru sat there dumb founded, they had captured him. They had captured him and as long as all went well, he would be gone for a very long time, but there was something about the report that bothered her. They had said that he had been captured in a nearby apartment complex, but they hadn't said which one. Thinking about it, the nearest apartment complex to the market was hers. That was why they had gone to the market, because it was nearby and had fresh goods. She shuttered to think that he had been back in her apartment… or worse, in Kurosaki's apartment. She had no idea what she would do if she had went back to his apartment and found it wrecked… it was the only place she had really felt safe in since the attack, and if he had been there, well, no place was safe. She suddenly dead panned, what if they had gone back home instead of the cemetery? Would things had ended differently, would he have gotten what he wanted, would she be even more hurt or even dead? He had killed that police officer in the streets, so he was obviously a disturbed and completely capable killer. She was scared, and it showed.

Kurosaki couldn't believe what had just been said, it was obvious to him that the place that he had gone was their apartment complex. He figured that he had probably gone there to do more searching or to wait for them. It was a scary thought, but it just pissed him off. The bastard was still trying to hurt Teru after the beating he had already gotten. He swore that if he ever got out of prison, he would give him the ass kicking of a life time. It was moments like this that Kurosaki truly was the delinquent his appearance gave him away as being. He knew how to fight, and right now that's what he wanted. He wanted to kill him, to destroy him for hurting the girl he was sworn to protect… he wanted to kill him for hurting the woman he loved.

Master felt the air and the room shift to something less than happy, and he figured as much. "I'm guessing you two came for Dinner…" He said walking to the back. He already had curry made, but he needed to make more rice to feed three people. He wasn't about to complain though, no one had seen or heard from them all day, and with the bad news… he was glad to see they were safe. He made mental note to call Riko and Andy later and inform them that they were safe. He couldn't help but wonder where they had been all day if they hadn't heard the news.

After Master walked back to the Kitchen, Kurosaki couldn't find words to speak, it was over, regardless of whether or not he had been in either of their apartments, it was over. He could feel how tense Teru was, and knew that he too was on edge. He was in a literally "killer" mood, but he knew he had to break it for her sake. There was no use in being edgy and angry if it was only going to hurt the girl he wanted to protect. He took a deep breath and touched her hand. She was the reason he was the way he was, she was the reason that he was able to relax right now, and she was the reason that he could just trust that everything would be okay soon enough.

She felt his hand touch hers and knew what it meant. Just that soft touch told her that everything was going to be okay. There were no secrets between them anymore, and so much had happened lately, that she didn't stop herself from asking him to do something she wanted. "Hold me?" She asked softly. She was blushing, but she needed him and he consented to do so because he knew she needed him. She allowed him to pull and lead her from her stool onto his lap and into his arms. She felt comfortable and safe in his arms. He was still her protector even though the Daisy secret was up, and he was the one she trusted above all else.

"Everything is going to be alright…" He whispered into her hair gently. His lips were pressed into her hair and his arms were holding her tightly to him. He needed her near to him almost as much as she needed him near her. It was definitely true that they needed each other, they always had, and they always would. From the first touch and the first kindly spoken word it was written in fate, they were perfect for each other and everyone around them had realized it before them. A fact made absolutely clear when the Master reentered the room with three bowls of homemade curry over rice.

"About Time!" He said with a smile, obviously trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Teru laughed lightly and blushed while moving back to her stool, "He finally told me too…" She said with a smile, if the situation was odd to begin with, might as well break the good news now and bring a little happiness to such an odd time.

"I told you that you just needed to give him a little time. He's a little stubborn, but he always pulls through in the end." Master said with a chuckle, regardless of the bad situation they were in, there was a small amount of happiness and good news that probably made it just a little easier to bear. After all, when he walked out they had looked just as a young couple without a care in the world should. They were good for each other, and he could appreciate that.

Kurosaki was confused, "Wait, he knew you knew?" He figured that Riko had known that she had known, after all, Riko was always on team Teru regardless of whether or not that went against team Kurosaki. It shocked him that the master had known too and didn't tell him.

"Everyone knew she knew except you… it was pretty obvious." He said with a chuckle as he handed out utensils. It was pretty funny that he hadn't known while everyone else had, but sometimes that was just the way he was.

Teru laughed with the master as they all ate together. The curry he made was mild, which was the favorite of his and Kurosaki's. Teru usually preferred it a little spicier, but she really never complained about food. Being as poor as she was, food was food to her and she never really minded what it tasted like. However, the master was a fantastic cook and the curry was delicious. By the time they were done it was ten thirty and they all had to get home. Kurosaki offered to pay for Dinner, but Master declined and insisted that it was on the house. So, they thanked him and were on their way home, hoping for the best.

The trip between Ohanabatake and their complex wasn't more than a couple minutes, but in that time, Teru was out like a light. She was snoozing soundly in the seat next to his with her hand resting softly on his lap. As he pulled into the parking lot of their complex, he didn't want to wake her at all. She looked so sweet and innocent sleeping deeply with her hand on him. He thought about maybe just running inside and grabbing a blanket or two and sleeping in the car all night. There were police cars in the parking lot and probably plenty of officers inside doing damage control, taking individual stories, and more than likely waiting for him and Teru. After all, no one had been able to catch them all day, and both of their phones were off so that meant no calls. No one knew that they were okay other than the master and by now probably Riko.

Then again, they would need to face this all eventually, so why not tonight… well in reality he could come up with a million and one reasons for "why not tonight". So he devised a better plan, unbuckled himself, Teru, and got out of the car. He went and opened her door, and picked her up without waking her. He would use the back stairs of the building rather than the elevator, that way he wouldn't run into anyone as he brought her upstairs to his apartment. He hoped that the officers were juts down in the lobby so he could slip by and get upstairs unnoticed. He also hoped that his apartment was still in one piece.

He luckily made it up to his apartment without any hassle; the only person that saw him was the elderly female tenant from apartment 210. The old woman probably would have said something about a man carrying a sleeping teenage girl up to his apartment, especially with all the days' commotion, had she not been almost legally blind.

When he made it upstairs, he realized that he was going to have to put her down to unlock the door. She was nuzzled against his chest, and he didn't want to set her down or wake her, so he thought about maybe just holding her for a while. He leaned against the wall with her in his arms, but it wasn't long before he felt her shift in his arms.

"Where are we?" She muttered into his chest. The last thing she remembered was getting into the car, but now she was comfortably in his arms rather than a seat in his car.

"In the hall in front of my apartment." He said with a light chuckle. He was hoping that she would have stayed asleep, but laying down on his bed sounded like a marvelous alternative to the hard hallway wall he was currently leaning on.

"Then put me down and open the door…" She muttered sounding like she would go back to sleep at any moment.

"But I don't want to put you down." He said softly pulling her even closer to him and kissing her forehead. He really never ever wanted to let her go.

"Mmmm… then walk over to the door and don't ask questions."

He had no idea what she was up to, but he obliged and walked over to the door. When he was standing in front of the door he felt her shift in his arms, and felt a small hand with nimble little fingers fish his keys out of his right, front, pants pocket. "Hello!" he said startled as she pulled out his keys and unlocked the door, all while in his arms. She turned the knob and swung it open and put her hands up to urge him to enter.

After he walked through the door, she closed the door and put the keys back in his pocket with a pat on the outside for good measure. "What?" She said with a sleepy, stifled, giggle. "You said you didn't want to put me down." A quick glance around the room made it clear the no one had broken in, and she had every right to feel safe.

He chuckled lightly, "I love you." He said softly, his voice was warm and sweet like honey.

"Prove it." She said, still tired, but playful. She loved him too, but she didn't need to say it for him to know it, just like she really didn't need proof to know that he loved her. It was all just a formality for now, and in this case, a very fun formality.

He carried her into his bedroom, the bedroom that in the past few nights had been more like their bedroom than simply his. He was unsure of what he would do if she moved out after all of this, because sleeping with her made him realize just how much he hated sleeping alone. He set her on the bed lightly and began to undress and change into pajama pants. He really saw no reason at this point to change in a different room. After all, they were both tired and there was no real reason why she couldn't see him partially undressed. For all intensive reasons, she was above the age of consent anyway. They wouldn't be doing "that" tonight by any means, but it was true, she was of legal age. "Are you sure that's what you want?" He asked after undressing and slipping on a pair of checkered pajama bottoms.

She was also undressing, and gestured for him to throw her a shirt, which he did. Tonight it was one of his shirts again, this time white, as white as the bra and panties she was currently wearing. She had made a mental note so many times to buy some more attractive underwear, but had never really gotten around to it. She supposed that she would do so the next time she went to the mall with Riko or her friends. As she slipped the shirt over her head, she laid back down on the bed. "I've never been so sure of anything in my whole life…" She said, feeling the blush light up her cheeks like the sun lights a dark sky. She was tired, and so was he. Nothing was going to happen tonight, not only because they were both tired, but also because they both knew it wasn't the time yet. They both knew there was plenty of time for that sort of thing, and that it would happen eventually, but not tonight. As he walked toward the bed and lay down with her, it was surely not tonight.

He pulled her close and kissed her soft, pulling the blankets over her and getting up to turn out all the lights. When he returned, she had fallen asleep. He had expected as much with how tired she had been, and he had no complaints for such. He too was tired, and he crawled back into bed and under the covers next to her. In the dark room, with only the tiny glimmer of light coming from the window, he felt her move closer to him and heard a soft noise. "I love you too…" It said though the words were superfluous and they both knew it. Her arms reached out for him, and he kissed her again, light and soft on the lips. He wrapped his arms around her and allowed her to rest her head on his chest with her ear on his heart. He fell asleep to the rhythmic sound and feeling of her breathing, while she fell asleep to the soft thudding of the heart that beat for her.


	16. In The End

I'm both happy and sad to announce that this will be the last chapter for this story. I've put years into writing this tale and it's become my baby in a way. I was looking forward to ending this chapter and starting a new story, but I'm sorry to say that for the time being other than my new one shot, I will not be writing on Fanfiction. I have this feeling that when they finally get around to my account, they will probably ban it for one of my other stories... I suppose I could just take it down and avoid the trouble, but the story that I would probably be taken down for is over 17,000 words long in just one chapter. I poured my heart and soul into writing that story, and I refuse to take it down until I'm forced to. Until this whole mess just stops, or I feel good enough to make another account. I probably won't be writing anymore. I'd just like to let you all know that I've loved hearing from you all while I wrote. Seeing you smile has been my most popular story ever, and I won't forget all of the kind words and sweet reviews that helped me get this far. Please know that if I do get taken down, I might return with this story under the same name. If you see that the story is gone, don't give up hope, because maybe I'll make a new account and re-upload the story. I have many ideas for this couple, and maybe I'll return soon... but if I don't, I wanted to make sure you got to see the end of all this. Thanks so so so much, and please enjoy this last chapter.

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A month after the end of the incident, there were a few things that became clear to Teru. One, there wasn't going to be a trial, two she never really needed those extra weeks of school anyway, and three, she was irrevocably in love with her high school's janitor.

However, none of these revelations really bothered her. There would be no trial because the man, who had so viciously attacked her and killed a police officer, had killed himself in prison. He had hung himself with a bed sheet from one of the bars in his cell. This just proved what Teru had thought all along, the man was a coward. Suicide was the coward's way out of life. It was like he cheated and got to the end before he was meant to, but that didn't bother her at all. She could never be glad that someone killed themselves, not even for a man as despicable as he, but at the same time, she felt relieved. She would never ever have to face him ever again, and as far as she was concerned, he would rot in hell for his sins.

She hadn't needed the last couple weeks of school, which she never did actually attend. She had just studied for her classes in the safety and relative calm of Kurosaki's living and dining rooms. From there she had reviewed information for all of her classes and had passed with the highest possible marks on each. One thing was for sure, she would definitely be returning to her school next year on scholarship.

Kurosaki… well things with Kurosaki had gone back to normal in some respects. They were still master and slave, but now, they knew each other's secrets. He still picked on her, as usual, but was far more in tune with her feelings about such. He was no longer truly "Daisy", but at the same time there was a bit of Daisy in everything he did. They were living together until further notice, and by "until further notice", it meant that Teru never wanted to leave, and he would never force her to. Plus, at this point, they needed each other like a flower needs the sun, and were attracted to each other like a moth and a flame. They slept together every night, in the safety and calm each other's arms. They still hadn't truly "slept together", but neither wanted that from the other for quite some time. After all, she was still in high school and he was still the perverted lolicon janitor. There would be plenty of time for making love when they were no longer bound by those social restraints. For now, they were just in love, and it was no longer a secret, not to them, not to the Master or Riko, not to anyone.

Currently, Teru was stretched out on a lounge chair in front of the ocean on the beach. It was early morning, and there was really no one outside yet other than her. She was sitting where she was, in her polka dotted bikini as the tide crashed on to the shore and the sun began to rise for the day. It was a little chilly in her bikini in such the early morning, but once the sun got in the sky, she knew it would heat up. Her friends were going to meet her here in a few days and were going to stay at the same hotel she was, hopefully this time with no major storms coming their way. For now, she was the only one out about and on the beach, but that didn't mean she was alone. No, she was hardly alone until her friends came. She had come here on vacation with the companionship of her best friend, master, and now boyfriend, Tasuku Kurosaki. As far as she knew, he was still asleep in the hotel room, asleep in the bed they had shared last night. She would have been asleep too if it wasn't for the fact that she had awoken from the nightmares that still plagued her from time to time.

Instead of waking Kurosaki and telling him about her nightmare, as she usually did, she had just changed, and carried her things down to the beach. She supposed she should have left him a note or something, but she hadn't thought about it until now. Plus, she had her phone, and even without it, he had the uncanny ability to find her no matter where she was. He was still her protector, and no matter where she was, she knew that when trouble came, he would find her. He always had, and he always would.

She looked out over the waves crashing to the beach and wondered what it would be like to live here all the time. Maybe someday when she was all grown up, what it would be like to have a home on the beach. Maybe to have a little house, a husband, children and a puppy dog, just like everyone wanted… she thought about silly things like that sometimes. She wondered if she was the type of person that would make a good mother, and then she blushed thinking of how Kurosaki would be as a father. Of course, she couldn't help but think that together they would be good parents. After all neither of them had grown up with both a mother and father for the extent of their childhood. They would want more than anything to give their children the normal family that they had never had the opportunity to have. She knew that she would be able to be a loving mother, and she could see, deep down, a part of Kurosaki that would be a good dad. Together, they had so much love to share, and she knew that someday she would want to have that sort of perfect family. She blushed thinking about it, she was probably too young to think about such a thing, but at the same time, she knew that that's what she wanted in life.

"Daydreaming?" A very familiar voice said from behind her softly. She knew that it wouldn't take long for him to find her once he woke up sand saw she wasn't there.

"Yes… in a way." She responded calmly even though she was still blushing bright red.

"What about?" He asked as he kneeled in the sand next to her chair and wrapped his arms around her tightly. All the visible and physical wounds from her attack had healed, so it was safe to do so. The emotional and mental wounds, though, he was still working on. Those wounds were the reason he had brought her to such a calming place to begin with.

"About the future." She said nonchalantly. She knew that as long as he was curious, he would continue to ask questions, and she would continue to answer until he was satisfied.

"Is it any good?" He asked as he put his lips on the nape of her neck.

"Amazing." She replied.

He kissed up her neck fondly, then released his hold on her, and reached out a hand for her to take. As she took it, he pulled her out of her lounge chair and into a standing position, next to him, on the beach.

"I was afraid something had happened when I woke up without you this morning." He said gently, turning and kissing her forehead gently, "I was afraid that something had happened to you, or that all this was a dream or something." He pulled her into his arms and held her tight to him. She then realized that he was dressed in his swim trunks and had, as she suspected, knew where she had gone.

"I was going to leave a note." She said quietly as they embraced each other. "But I forgot and just came down here… I mean it's so beautiful in the morning…"

He ran his hand down her mostly uncovered back, "I'll let you in on a little secret…" He said softly, tilting his head so that he was talking into her ear, "So are you."

She blushed, not just her cheeks, but that head to toe blush that he loved so much on her. "Are you just saying that to make me blush, or is it true?" She said with a nervous chuckle. It was insane how he could get her like this in just a moment with only a few words.

"A little bit of each actually." He said, as he used one of his hands to play with a loose stand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail.

"Go bald Kurosaki." She said shrugging out of the hug they were sharing.

"Now if I really went bald, wouldn't you be upset?" He said in a playful tone, "I mean after all, what teenage girl in her right mind wants a bald boyfriend?"

Sometimes he was extremely annoying, but she couldn't help but love him for it. "Oh, trust me, I would deal with it."

"How do you put up with me?" He asked with a bit of a laugh. It was actually a question he had been meaning to ask her for a very long time. After all, what girl in her right mind would want a guy who was so much older, so rude, and so utterly infuriating?

"You're cute in small doses." She replied with a light laugh.

"I think you just like the abuse…" He said, and immediately clammed up wishing he had used a better term or phrased it differently. She was just beginning to heal, and he would feel insanely bad if his misspeak was a cause for her to relapse on the progress she was making.

She heard him go completely silent, and understood why. She did admit, he hadn't made the best choice of words, but other than the nightmares, she really was over what had happened. She didn't mind that he had said that, because in some ways, it was true. "Only from you." She said with another light laugh.

"Good to hear.", he replied as he put one of his hands low on her back, and another on the side of her face, "Because I love to see you smile."

With his words, she did, indeed smile a large and stunning smile. The kind of smile she only did for him. As her moved his lips to hers, her lips still smiled, and as they met, his did too. They were in love; there was no doubt about that, and as they kissed, waves hit the beach, and everything was good in the world. She wasn't afraid anymore, and his sins no longer mattered. They were complete together, and together was where they would remain, married or not, until death did they part.


End file.
